With the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Southern Circle, AM Chowdhary highlighting lapses in the new Pamban Bridge connecting the Indian mainland to Rameshwaram Island, the inauguration of the bridge is likely to delayed.

Although the CRS has given its go-ahead to run trains on the bridge, sources said the inauguration could only happen after getting the report from the five member panel that was formed to look at the lapses pointed out by Chowdhary.

Rail services on the 2.07-km Pamban Rail link, which connects the Indian mainland to Rameshwaram island, were suspended for over a year to replace the country’s first vertical lift sea bridge, which had corroded. Work on the new bridge constructed by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd started in February 2020.

For Railways, this is a prestigious project in the Bay of Bengal. Like the old cantilever bridge, the new one, built at a cost of around ₹540 crore, is also an architectural marvel. The navigational span can be lifted up to a height of 17 metre using an electro-mechanical system, unlike manual operations in the old bridge.

Cyclone hit

The old ‘great’ Pamban cantilever bridge — commissioned in 1914 — stood for over a century, bridging peninsular India and the Gulf of Mannar. The navigational span, known as the Scherzer rolling lift span, was named after the railroad engineer who invented it.

The bridge was originally built for metre gauge trains. It was subsequently strengthened to broad gauge standard in 2006-07. The Scherzer rolling span has a dual role — it lifts and allows cruisers and ships to pass through; it also helps transport pilgrims visiting the Ramanathaswamy Temple.

When the Pamban rail bridge faced the wrath of a cyclone that swept Dhanushkodi town on December 23, 1964, it was left in shambles. E Sreedharan, the Metro Man of India, and his team achieved the near-impossible task of restoring the bridge to fully operational state in just 46 days.

‘Glaring lapses’

“I am constrained to point out that, in stark contrast, the present bridge sets a bad example of constructing an important structure, with glaring lapses right from planning to execution,” Chowdhary said.

The lift span girder was non-RDSO standard, and designed using foreign codes, which required the involvement of RDSO in the project. However, records show that with the support of the Railway Board, the RDSO shunned its responsibility in the girder design. This disassociation resulted in serious consequences, includingdeviations from codal provision, he said.

A release by Southern Railways states that the design of this steel bridge was done by a TYPSA, an International Consultant. The bridge is designed with both European and Indian Codes and its design was proof-checked by IIT Madras.

Given the foreign consultant’s involvement, the Railway Board anticipated technical limitations in examining the design by Railways and RDSO. Therefore, the Board decided on an additional proof check by IIT-Mumbai. After this double proof check, Southern Railway approved the bridge’s design.

The modification in RDSO design for approach girders to suit local constraints were also proof-checked by IIT Madras/IIT Bombay and approved by Southern Railway.

The welding of structural members, a crucial aspect of the efficacy of the structure, had also been checked by using the latest Phase Array Ultrasonic Testing. Additionally, the Welding Research Institute, Trichy, and Southern Railway also further checks.

For corrosion protection, a special painting scheme used in extreme corrosion prone areas in the world using polysiloxane paint with a design life of 35 years, has been implemented. Use of stainless-steel reinforcement in Reinforced concrete construction, fully welded box section in lift span, completely avoiding splice joints in the approach span girders, FRP in pathways, Inspection arrangements and Hand rails are amongst the innovative features to counter corrosion protection, the release said.

“It is confirmed that the bridge has been constructed with State of Art design and the best construction practices. It is cleared for operation by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. Further points raised by CRS will be complied in total,” the release said.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a social media post on the Pamban Bridge said, “Construction: Complete. Lift span: Tested multiple times. Next: Safety inspections by the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS). The inauguration is expected soon, and trains will glide over this sea bridge, offering breathtaking views of the Gulf of Mannar.”