Railways completes installing cables of India’s first cable-stayed bridge in 11 months

NEW DELHI: The 96 cables on India’s first cable-stayed bridge, the Anji Khad bridge connecting Katra and Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir, have been installed, which will enable its ‘superstructure’ to be completed by May, railways officials said on Wednesday.

“Anji Cable Stay bridge is designed with a total of 96 cables i.e. 48 cables each on lateral and central spans. All 96 cables were fully installed on 26 April 2023, in a record time period of 11 months (June 2022 to April 2023) in spite of all constraints,” a statement by the railways said.

The bridge forms an important link in Indian Railways’ aim to connect J&K to the rest of the country with all-weather rail connectivity. It connects Katra and Reasi via tunnels T2 and T3 on the Katra-Banihal section.

“As on date, 44 segments out of total 47 segments have been launched which required support of stay cables. Now, the balance three segments shall be launched without stay cables as per design. The launch of the superstructure will be completed by next month,” the statement added.

The cables weigh 848.7 MT and the total length of cable strands involved is 653km,” an official said, describing the Anji Khad bridge as “an engineering marvel built in extreme geographical conditions”.

The asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge crosses the deep gorges of Anji river, a tributary of river Chenab.

“The total length of the bridge is 725m which includes a 473m long asymmetric cable stay bridge balanced on the axis of a central pylon from the top of foundation, standing above the river bed,” the statement read.