Engineering marvel Anji Khad bridge all set for operations

Another interesting feature of the bridge is the foundation of the main pylon

- NISHAT NIZAMI

A trial run of an electric engine and load test were recently conducted on Anji Khad Bridge which is the country's first cable-stayed rail bridge and an engineering feat of the Indian Railways. Once operational, the bridge is to play a crucial role in boosting rail connectivity in this part of Jammu and Kashmir.

Apart from Chenab Bridge, world's highest railway arch bridge, the much awaited Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project of the Indian Railways has another engineering marvel called the Anji Khad Bridge. About 80 km by road from Jammu, the bridge connecting Katra with Reasi is built on River Anji, a tributary of the river Chenab amid young fold mountains of the Himalayas in extremely complex, fragile and daunting geological features in the form of faults, folds and thrusts in addition to the seismic proneness of the region. The bridge has a single pylon of height of 193 meters from the top of the foundation standing tall at a height of 331 metres above the riverbed.