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Chenab Bridge
WSP Finland

The tallest and longest-spanning arch railway bridge in

the world
Chenab Bridge is located in the Jammu and Kashmir area in the northern part of India. It crosses the river Chenab near the
village of Kauri. It is part of the new Baramulla−Srinagar−Udhamptur railway connection. The total length of the bridge is 1315
m. The free span length of the bridge is 467 m. measured from the surface of the river below, the height of the bridge deck is 350
m. Thus, Chenab Bridge is the tallest and longest-spanning railway bridge of its type in the world. It contains approximately
25,000 tons of steel.

Chenab Bridge is an arch bridge completely made of steel. Also the deck of the bridge is of steel. Foundations and the approach
viaduct piers are made of concrete. The arch is erected using a cableway crane. The deck is launched into its place. In practice,
all the assembly joints are bolted. The amount of bolts is around 600,000. The bridge is founded on the bedrock. The foundations
of the arch are approximately 40 m high and 50 m wide.

Using modelling in the design was a precondition for getting the project. All the bridge structures have been 3D modeled. The
steel structures have been modeled extremely accurately, e.g. the model contains welding grooves in detailed form. The drawings
to fabricate the steel structure were printed directly from the building information model. The project involves tens of thousands
of drawings. Temporary cables and related anchoring towers used to install the cantilever were modeled. These are shown on the
side of the deck in the model.

The structure was a challenging design task. Designers needed to consider severe seismic loading and possible blast loads. The
model was created in an undeformed shape including camber. This brought additional challenge to the modeling. Moreover, the
camber shape of the arch does not match to camber shape of the deck in size. This is due to erection order. The size of the
structure is enormous and includes a lot of details. At best, the modeling team consisted of 10 persons. The amount of time spent
for modelling the bridge is around 10,000 hours.

Modeling was a success, and fabrication is on its way. The model is utilized by the site personnel every day. They independently
run the files for production management and flame cutting on site. Naturally, the model is also utilized to plan the construction
site and its logistics. The contractor has stationed many Tekla Structures users on site. Site management uses the Tekla BIMsight
software. At an earlier stage, sub-contracting consultant LAP and British third-party inspection company Flint & Neil also
reviewed the model. Part of the inspection was carried out with the help of the model.

The geometry of the structural analysis model was imported in pre-elevated form, based on which modeling continued. Rock
surface was modeled to use as a reference in the model. This long-term project was modeled using Tekla Structures version 19.0.
Data transfer was challenging at times because this version does not support Tekla Model Sharing functionality which would
/
 have been useful due to long distances and poor web connections in the remote areas in India.

Owner: Konkan Railways Corporation

General contractor: CBPU, Chenab Bridge Project Undertaking

Architects: WSP Finland Oy

Structural design: WSP Finland Oy, Leonhardt, Andrä & Partner

Detailing: WSP Finland Oy

Subcontractor: Leonhardt, Andrä & Partner

Proof Checking: Flint & Neil

See also

Tekla is a Trimble Company © Copyright 2015 Tekla

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