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India’s first cable-stayed bridge and the first-of-its-kind in the country, is currently under construction. The Anji Khad bridge is on the Anji River (tributary of chenab rivery) being constructed in the Reasi district of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
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- This 80 km long bridge is gaining countrywide attention for being an engineering marvel and we are here to give you a first-hand insight into its connecting route, the speed with which trains would be able to run on this bridge and also its probable launch time.
- Anji Khad Bridge is one of the most daunting projects taken up by the Indian Railways. The bridge will connect the Katra and Reasi section of Jammu-Baramulla line.
- The bridge is about 80 km by road from the Jammu city. It is located in the picturesque mountains of the Himalayas. Due to the complex, fragile and daunting geological features, detailed site-specific investigations were carried out by IIT, Roorkee and IIT, Delhi.
- The asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge balanced on the axis of a central pylon, connects tunnels T2 and T3 on the Katra-Banihal Section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project.
- Even due to the sheer complex nature of the geographic location of the bridge, it is built quite robustly as it can withstand 213 kmph of winds.
- The bridge is a part of the national project of the Udhampur-Srinagar- Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) Project. As per earlier reports, the Anji Khad bridge, once completed, will become taller than the Eiffel Tower!
- The total length of the bridge is 725 meters, out of which the cable-stayed portion is 473.25 meters. It has the support of 96 cables, making it the longest cable-stayed bridge in the country. Once completed, trains on the bridge will be able to run at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour.