The Pamban rail bridge will have a new span soon.
The 65.23-metre-long rolling type lift span, which opens like a pair of scissors for vessels to pass through the channel, was designed and built by German engineer Scherzer. Railway Board adviser (bridges) Sinha inspected the manually operated span on Thursday and gave the nod for the replacement at a cost of Rs. 20 crore, said southern Railway Chief Bridge Engineer M. Suyambulingam, who accompanied him.
“The adviser is convinced that the span should be replaced and we expect allocation of funds for a new span in the Railway budget,” Mr. Suyambulingam told The Hindu .
The new span, which could be operated by a press of a button, would be designed and built after seeking opinion from technical institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
After the replacement, the span could be opened on a daily basis to allow vessels to pass through the channel, doing away with the existing practice of opening the span once in a week, he said.
Mr. Suyambulingam, who also inspected the ongoing re-girdering work at the bridge, expressed satisfaction over the quality of work. As of now, 28 girders, identified as highly corroded were being replaced, he said. Mr. Sinha has inspected the other girders and is likely to give his consent for replacing as many girders as possible next year, he said.
RITES Limited had suggested that the Scherzer span be replaced with a mechanised horizontal orientation type span after widening it to 90 meters for the implementation of the Sethusamudram project.
