Re-girdering work begins on Pamban rail bridge

Re-girdering work on the century-old Pamban rail bridge began on Tuesday with a private company replacing one of the more than 11-year-old corroded girders.

As part of strengthening the rail bridge, India’s first cantilever bridge, the railways has decided to replace 28 highly corroded girders with new ones at a total cost of Rs 3.16 crore.

MR Hi Tech Engineers, which has been awarded the contract, has worked out schedules to replace all the 28 corroded girders by the end of March, working three days a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

The company has been given a four-hour window period between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. so that the least disturbance is caused to train services during the re-girdering work. The Southern Railway has said only the Madurai-Rameswaram Passenger and Tirupati-Rameswaram Express will be delayed on different days due to the work.

On the opening day, the company could not complete the work within four hours as the removal of the old girder took extra time. As a result, Madurai-Rameswaram and Rameswaram-Madurai Passenger trains suffered delay.

“In the coming days, we will ensure that the old girder is replaced within the four-hour schedule,” G. Ramakrishnan, its Managing Director, said.

As machinery could not be moved to the rail bridge, all the work was carried out manually with the help of a gantry, he said. Each girder measures 12.2 metres in length, 2.25 metres in breadth and 1.25 metres in height and weighs 11 tonnes.

This is the first time after the gauge conversion in 2007 that the corroded girders are being replaced.

The railways has decided to replace 28 highly corroded girders with new ones.