Five-member technical panel certifies new Pamban rail bridge as ‘structurally safe’

The five-member high-level committee appointed by the Ministry of Railways to study the stability of the newly constructed Pamban rail bridge has cleared its design, certifying that the 2.08-km-long bridge is structurally safe.

The five-member high-level committee appointed by the Ministry of Railways to study the stability of the newly constructed Pamban rail bridge has cleared its design, certifying that the 2.08-km-long bridge is structurally safe.

The committee comprising Principal Executive Director (PED), Bridges; PED, Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO); Chief Bridge Engineer (Southern Railway); Director of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited; and an external expert from IIT-Roorkee had inspected the bridge early January.

“Having deliberated on the adequacy of design of the bridge, the committee concludes that the bridge has been designed as per the relevant provisions of Indian Railway Standards Steel Bridge Code, duly accounting for the fatigue for annual traffic of 50 gross million tonnes and design life of 100 years,” the panel said in its report dated January 11, 2025, a copy of which has been accessed by The Hindu.

“Thus, the bridge is structurally safe to serve the intended purposes,” the report concluded.

According to the report, the committee was fully satisfied that the design of the 72.5-metre-long vertical lift span has been done by competent designers and reviewed properly by IIT-Madras and IIT-Bombay, based on Indian and Euro codes duly assessed for fatigue.

The weld joints have been done by competent welders. The methodology for approval of sop drawings and weld by designer are also as per QAP and best industrial practices, the report said.

“Independent weld checking has been done by Welding Research Institute, Tiruchi, controlled by BHEL,” the members said in their report.