As part of its plan to improve the safety and strength of the century-old Pamban rail bridge, India’s first cantilever bridge, Southern Railway began replacing 16 highly corroded girders on Tuesday without disrupting train services to Rameswaram island.
Under the supervision of Southern Railway Divisional Engineer (North) Karthik and Additional Divisional Engineer Manikandan, , the work began on Tuesday morning after all safety precautionary measures were ascertained.
“We have moved in all infrastructure and will complete the work by November end,” G. Ramakrishnan, Managing Director, MR Hi Tech Engineers, which was awarded the contract, said. The company had replaced 28 corroded girders with metalised girders supplied by Southern Railway Engineering Workshop in Arokkonam last year.
Madurai Division of Southern Railway had given the company a three-hour window time between 5.50 a.m. and 8.50 a.m. on Mondays and Fridays to carry out the re-girdering work, he said.
A large workforce had been mobilised and the workers would begin the work soon after Rameswaram-Madurai passenger train crossed the bridge at 5.50 a.m., he said, adding on Tuesday, they replaced a corroded girder at the 40th span with a new one, which measured 12.20 metres in length and weighed 13 tonnes.
As the company was left with a shorter window time, the workers moved out the corroded girder at Mandapam side, while moving in the new girder through Pamban point with the help of a gantry crane and two 50-tonne class cranes, he added.
For the first time, the railways used six girders with polythene coating, a new technology on the suggestion of the research wing of Indian Railways, M. Suyambulingam, Chief Engineer (Bridges), told The Hindu . The ‘paint-free life’ girders would not require painting for 15 years, and were recommended for highly corrosive areas like Pamban, he said.
After assessing the performance of the coating system, the railways would take a decision on using such girders, while replacing 27 more corroded girders after April next year, he said. The railways sanctioned replacement of 27 more girders, and after the completion of the work, no girder would be due for replacement for the next 10 years, he added.