Gujarat (Metro Rail News): On 23 June 2024, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) successfully launched a 130-meter-long steel bridge over the Delhi-Mumbai national expressway. The bridge in Vadodara near Gujarat is part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project.
This is the third successful completion of a steel bridge out of 28 steel bridges for the MAHSR corridor. The launch of the first and second steel bridges took place across National Highway 53, in Surat and over the Vadodara – Ahmedabad main line of Indian Railways, in Gujarat respectively.
The launch was completed within 24 hours, and multiple rollers and hydraulic jacks with intermittent breaks to allow vehicular traffic to pass. The bridge weighs 3000 MT with a height of 18 meters and a width of 14.9 meters. It was manufactured in Wardha, Maharashtra. It is expected to be the longest of any other national highway in the country.
The bridge was assembled at a 15-m height from the ground on temporary trestles, and it was pulled with the automatic mechanism of two semi-automatic jacks, each capable of 250 tons. The bridge fabrication utilised approximately 124,246 Nos. of Tor-Shear Type High Strength (TTHS) bolts designed for a 100-year lifespan, with C5 system painting and metallic spherical bearings.
In August 2021, NHSRCL awarded M G Contractors with a bridge package P-1 (C) of Rs. 261.24 crore. P1-C’s scope involves constructing one press trusted concrete (PSC) and four steel truss bridges within 87.569 km package C6, which is under construction by Larson & Toubro.
In October 2023, M G Contractors placed the first open web girder (OWG) of the entire project on Package P-1(B) at MAHSR’s chainage 254.585 across NH-53 near Surat. In April 2024, the first OWG for Package P1(C) was placed over Indian Railways’ mainline track between Kanjari Boriyavi and Uttarsanda stations.
The utmost safety standards are being practised during the project’s execution. Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, India is making increased use of its technical and material resources, and the major example is the steel bridge for the Bullet Train project.
India boasts the capacity to construct steel bridges for heavy haul and semi-high-speed trains which can operate at 160kmph. Now India is utilising the same expertise to construct steel girders for the MAHSR corridor which is designed to accommodate high-speed trains running at the top speed of 320 kmph.
