Pamban Rail Bridge
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
As in 2023
Arockiaraj J, Nov 16, 2023: The Times of India
GOODBYE PAMBAN, THANK YOU FOR A CENTURY OF SERVICE
Worn By Time And Corrosion, The Rail Bridge, Among India’s Oldest, Will Make Way For A Taller, Longer, Sturdier Vertical Sealift
The 2km Pamban Rail Bridge wears a deserted look. So does its magnificent Scherzer’s span. But a few metres away is a hub of activity as a host of workers work on a new railway bridge, likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a couple of months.
With 90% of the new bridge being complete, the old Pamban bridge, built in 1914, will reportedl y be dismantled soon. And heritage enthusiasts and rail fans are upset. Earlier this week, a group from Pamban led by former panchayat president M Patrick approached the Ramanathapuram district administration urging the state and Union governments not to dismantle the old bridge. “It was the first proper route to the mainland. This bridge carries lots of memories,” says Patrick. “The old bridge can be turned into a tourist attraction. A sea walk can be planned,” says Edward Jeni, secretary of the Kanyakumari District Rail Users Association. Over the years, Pamban Bridge has been saved a couple of times from being dismantled. President A P J Abdul Kalam saved the meter gauge train bridge from being dismantled in 2007 when Indian Railways adopted the unigauge (broad gauge) across the country. The Indian Railways retained the bridge with alterations.
When the bridge celebrated its centenary in 2014, Kalam presided over the inaugural. “I love Pamban Bridge,” Kalam had said, narrating how his livelihood depended on the bridge. He said that as a schoolboy who distributed newspapers that arrived by train, he would get a copy after work and cut out pictures of Second World War aircraft, a pastime that drew him to rocket science.
In 1964, the Supercyclone that ravaged Rameswaram island turned the buzzing port town of Dhanushkodi into a wasteland. On December 22, the Pamban-Dhanushkodi passenger train was washed into the sea and 110 lives were lost. The entire railway line on Pamban Bridge was destroyed, the 126 girders reduced to 19 and the Scherzer’s span.
Even before carving a reputation as India’s Metro Man, engineer E Sreedharan managed to restore the bridge in 45 days against the expected time frame of six months. “Our fathers used to talk about how they worked to rebuild the bridge because it was the only lifeline we had with the mainland,” says Patrick. The road bridge was inaugurated in 1988. In 2013, a year before the bridge turned 100, a grounded barge slammed against it, damaging one of its pillars. The railways repaired the pillar and traffic resumed. But as years passed, corrosion began to take a toll. Rail traffic was suspended from December 2022 after sensors started sending red alerts. Southern Railway suspended traffic permanently after IIT-Madras and the Research Design and Standards Organisation of Indian Railways expressed apprehensions about stability. Also, with the railways moving towards electrification, the prospects of altering the old bridge for electrification and doubling are bleak, so building a new bridge turned out inevitable. And with that, Indian Railway’s Bridge No 346, India’s first sea bridge, will be retired. Email your feedback to southpole.toi@timesgroup.com
OLD VS NEW
➤ New Pamban bridge | The new bridge has 99 spans with 18.3m long girders
➤The Vertical Lift, first of its kind in the country, will allow full horizontal length of 72.5m for navigation
➤ 3m higher than old bridge with navigational air-clearance of 22m above mean sea level Designed for double line and future electrification of railway line
➤ The Vertical Lift span will have electromechanical control interlocked with train control system
➤ Old Pamban rail bridge | 2,054m long; 145 spans of 12.2m long steel girders
➤ Scherzer’s Span (named after the bridge’s engineer) has a 61m steel truss, opens for a maximum of 81 degrees in the vertical plane to let boats through
➤ The bridge was designed for narrow gauge and upgraded to broad gauge in 2007 for 24 crore
➤ The Scherzer’s Span was operated manually
BACK IN TIME
➤ Though the British surveyed the possibilities of laying a railway line on Adam’s bridge, they managed Ceylon-India connectivity through a ferry service between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar piers. Pamban Railway Bridge construction began in 1910 and was completed in December 1913. The bridge was inaugurated on February 24, 1914
➤ The book ‘Southern Railway – a Saga of 150 Glorious Years 1852-2003’ published by Southern Railway says in 1895, the British wanted to connect through India and Sri Lanka through a railway line from Rameswaram to Mannar. Ceylon built a 67-mile railway line from Madavachi to Talaimannar and on the Indian side the Madurai-Mandapam railway was proposed to be extended across the Pamban Pass with a bridge to Rameswaram island and towards Dhanushkodi
