Re-girdering work on the century-old Pamban rail bridge, which began in January, drew to a close with MR Hi Tech Engineers, the private firm which was awarded the contract, replacing the last – the 28th – girder on Tuesday.
As part of strengthening the country’s first cantilever bridge, the railways decided to replace 28 highly corroded girders with new ones at a total cost of Rs. 3.16 crore. The Ramanathapuram-based private company completed re-girdering, working three days a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays – without disrupting the train services.
The company was given a four-hour window period between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. to avoid disturbance to train services when the work was in progress.
ADVERTISEMENT
V. Rajendran, Bridge Engineer from Chennai, who was present when the last girder was replaced, expressed satisfaction over the completion of the work. Chief Bridge Engineer M. Suyambulingam inspected the work on July 28 and reviewed the progress of the work.
This was the first time after the gauge conversion in 2007 that the corroded girders were replaced. The 28 highly corroded girders identified by the railways between the 60th and the 145th spans were more than 11 years old. During gauge conversion, only 22 new girders were laid and the remaining 122 were strengthened after re-bracing, sources said.
Even as the private firm was replacing the corroded girders, railway officials identified 16 more highly corroded girders and decided to replace them at a cost of Rs. 2.22 crore.
ADVERTISEMENT
The girders were located between 40th and the 65th spans and between 112th to the 125th spans. The Railways expected to float the tender soon for the work, the sources added.