Chenab Bridge Construction

Project.
Group Members:

Darshan Nere (12010938)

Pushkar Nerpagar (12010802)

Rajan Ner (12010948)

Srushti Nikam (12011355)

Aniruddha Nikam (12010047)

Harsh Nigudge (12011075)


Abstract— Indian Railways has
undertaken the mega-project of
construction of a new railway line in the
State of Jammu and Kashmir. The project
includes a large number of tunnels and
bridges which are to be implemented in
highly rugged and mountainous terrain.
The alignment crosses a deep gorge of the
Chenab River, which necessitates
construction of a long-span railway
bridge. The main feature of the Chenab
Bridge is its 467 metres long steel arch
main span located about 320 metres above
the surface of the river. The paper
describes mainly the conceptual design,
II.
but partly also the structural design of this
bridge. In the design work both national
Indian codes as well as several
international codes had to be followed
considering that the design standards
match the construction standards.
I. Introduction
The bridge over river Chenab on road
Jammu Akhnoor - Poonch in J&K State
was lying incomplete for more than three
decades. The decision was necessary to
find ways and means to complete the
permanent bridge to meet the strategic
needs of the Nation and to overcome the
traffic bottlenecks. The tremendous
pressure from the political leadership and
the Army authorities for the completion of
the bridge had forced them to make many
bold, dynamic,brilliant ,administrative and
technical decisions. The proposal, made by
the ground executives and examined by the
technical and the administrative wings of
the department was accepted. This resulted
in the construction of 280m long (longest
mid span in the country of 160m + 2x 60M
approach spans) PSC cantilever single
span bridge.This acceptance of the
proposal has culminated in the completion
of an aesthetically beautiful, and
structurally durable bridge over river
Chenab at Akhnoor under Project
Sampark of the Border Roads
Organization under the technical
supervision of D.G.B.R. (Director-General
Border Roads).
An attempt is made to record the
historical, administrative, technical and
the constructional aspects of the Chenab
bridge which has also created many firsts
in the Country.
Implementation details
Chenab Bridge forms a massive steel arch,
the first of its kind in India. The country
has no codes or design guidance for such
massive structures. Based on experiences
drawn from similar projects worldwide,
the design practices for the bridge are
being followed.
BS: 5400 is being used as the basic
guideline for the design and construction
of the bridge. The deep Chenab river
valley under the bridge is prone to high
wind pressure risking the stability of the
bridge.
Norway-based Force Technology
Laboratory conducted several wind tunnel
tests to understand the effects of wind
speed, static force coefficients and gust
buffeting. The bridge is designed to resist
wind speeds of up to 260km/h. The seismic
nature of the project zone was also
considered during its design.
The bridge will include 17 spans, as well
as the 469m main arch span across the
Chenab River, and viaducts on either side.
The main span of the bridge will include
two 36m-long approach spans. It will be
built as a two ribbed arch with steel
trusses made of concrete-filled sealed steel
boxes. The structure will be supported by
two 130m-long, 100m-high pylons on
either end through cables.
Steel was chosen to construct the bridge as
it will be more economical and able to
resist temperatures of -20°C and wind
speeds of above 200km/h. The Jammu and
Kashmir region witnesses frequent
terrorist attacks. To enhance safety and
security, the bridge will be made of
63mm-thick special blast-proof steel. The
concrete pillars of the bridge are designed
to withstand explosions. It is expected that
the structure will be able to withstand
earthquakes of magnitude eight on the
Richter Scale and up to 40kg of TNT
blasts.
A ring of aerial security will be provided
to safeguard the bridge. An online
monitoring and warning system will be
installed on the bridge to protect the
passengers and train in critical conditions.
Footpaths and cycle trails will be provided
adjacent to it. The bridge will be painted
with a special corrosion-resistant paint,
which lasts for 15 years.
After many deliberations, taking into
account aesthetics, economy, and
availability of local expertise and
construction materials, the Chenab Bridge
was designed as a large span single arch
steel bridge with approach viaducts on
either side. The arch is two-ribbed,
fabricated from large steel trusses. The
chords of the trusses are sealed steel
boxes, internally stiffened and filled with
concrete to assist in controlling
wind-induced forces on the bridge.
Another advantage of concrete filling is
that internal painting will not be required.
The number of bearings has been
minimized, particularly on the approach
viaduct, through the use of continuous
construction. This is advantageous, as it
reduces the maintenance and inspection
efforts, and improves the riding quality.
The viaduct piers are of concrete, while the
piers near the arch are steel.
The design of major arch rail bridges
requires considerations of a number of
additional parameters, such as fatigue,
global stability, second order effects,
composite action, etc. It also requires that
such a bridge is designed to achieve a
consistent level of reliability for all load
cases, and that the design standards match
the construction standards. Indian
construction standards such as the Indian
Railway Standards (IRS), the Indian Road
Congress (IRC) and the Indian Standards
(IS) were found inadequate for the large
spans of the Chenab Bridge. For example,
the Indian Railway Standards (IRS) is
primarily intended for simply supported
bridges with spans up to 100m (although
these have been successfully used for
higher spans up to 154m). The spans for
the Chenab Bridge greatly exceed this
limit, and are continuous. Therefore, to
assure a safe design, Indian national
standards have been supplemented with
International standards such as British
Standards (BS), International Union of
Railways (UIC) and Euro. Also, many
global experts with versatile and relevant
experience, have been involved in order to
facilitate making the project a success.
Following are some of the design
considerations taken into account:
Limit state philosophy of design has been
decided to be followed as per BS codes.
Computation of wind load effects as per
wind tunnel tests.
Site specific seismic spectra developed by
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Roorkee.
Provision of Euro code 8 for ductility
detailing of very tall and hollow
rectangular RCC piers.
Provision of long welded rail (LWR) over
the bridges and resulting force calculation
as per UIC – 774-3R guidelines.
Deformation limits as per comfort criteria
of UIC – 776-2R and UIC 776 -3R
guidelines.
Redundancy provided in the structures, for
lower level of operation during mishaps
and against collapse in extreme cases of
one pier failure.
The Quality aspect has been emphasised,
as the quantum of fabrication and welding
is colossal. Most indigenous material
compliant to IS codes has been planned to
be used, whereas for the design,
international codes have been referred,
which means the Quality Control work is
still difficult.

III. Results and discussion
The Chenab Bridge in Jammu and
Kashmir will be the highest railway arch
bridge in the world at 476-meter long,
(1,178 ft), even taller than the Millau
Viaduct in France which currently holds
the distinction. Chenab Bridge will have
the widest span of the Indian broad gauge
railway network in the country. Recently,
Prime Minister Narender Modi lauded the
completion of Arch closure of the Chenab
Bridge, the world's highest railway bridge
in Jammu & Kashmir by the Indian
Railways.With the completion of its
majestic arches on Monday, the
construction of the iconic Chenab Arch
Bridge, which will soar 359 metres above
the bed of the river and 30 metres higher
than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, will reach
another milestone. The bridge will provide
the much-needed all-weather connectivity
between Kashmir and the rest of the
county. The bottom ends of the main arch
have already been connected, after which
the upper arch will now be completed and
the two will now be closed. The next step
would be the laying of the tracks.
IV. Conclusion and Future Scope
The design of the main arch requires
consideration of a number of additional
parameters, such as fatigue, global
stability, second order effects, composite
action, etc. It also requires that such a
bridge is designed to achieve a consistent
level of reliability for all load cases, and
that the design standards match the
construction standards. That has been
considered in the current design work as
well. The Chenab Bridge will be the
biggest / the longest-span / the highest
railway arch bridge ever built in the
world. Its design offered great challenges
to the design team, but the challenges will
be even more demanding before the gap
between the main arch halves is filled.The
Chenab Bridge will be the biggest / the
longest-span / the highest railway arch
bridge ever built in the world. Its design
offered great challenges to the design
team, but the challenges will be even more
demanding before the gap between the
main arch halves is filled.Technical and
administrative decisions should be taken
on merit and based on the available
technology after proper analysis. By
taking bold decisions not based on hiding
or camouflaging the acts of the past
mistakes this bridge has seen the light of
the day. Our felicitation to all concerned.
Conclusions are as follows:
1. Sites where the velocity of the flow
of water is high i.e. more than 4M m/s and
where the bed is conglomerate, soft stone,
boundary etc. (in short difficult to
penetrate) such type of construction of
continuous long span bridges are
recommended.
2. Other countries are achieving
construction of spans of around 200 m. We
should also explore constructing such
large spans.
3. The grade of concrete designed for
use in this bridge for superstructure was
M50. It is recommended that for such large
spans grades of around M80 and above
should be targeted. This will reduce the
cost of construction as well as the dead
load of the superstructure. Incidentally, in
this Bridge M50 was achieved in the first
trial mix with minimum cement of 400
kg/m3 content and normal admixtures.
4. Continuous survey of the levels and
centre line with the help of total station is
a must for these types of structures. In this
bridge continuous checking of deflections
and the centre line as per the approved References
drawings as conceived by the design
consultant and as per the approved "Qui Explained: Chenab arch bridge
drawings and as actually observed
matched like a ‘T’ and there were no which will connect Kashmir to
variations. Thus the linking segment was Kanyakumari". Indian Express. 7 April
cast at the same level on both ends in
elevation with a matching centre line. 2021.
5. Time is the essence of the contract
and ‘Money is the cause of it’. The "Chenab rail bridge to be ready by next
department by its action in this bridge has year". Times of India, 2 August 2020.
shown that in spite of stiff financial
conditions there were no conflicts and
Perfect Harmony was maintained during https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2
execution.
57725212_Conceptual_Design_of_the_Ch
6. For time bound important projects, a
team of Officers who start the project enab_Bridge_in_India
should be made to complete the same to
ensure continuity of command, https://www.tekla.com/uk/resources/referen
accountability, efficiency and satisfaction
of the team. ces/chenab-bridge-soars-through-construc
7. When the 22nd segments were facing tion-process-thanks-to-brim
each other and the shuttering of the 23rd
segment i.e. the linking segment was to
have been placed there was no level
difference and the levels matched on both
tips to the nearest millimeter both in plan
(centre line) as well as in elevation. This
was possible because every day the levels
were maintained by a team of surveyors
with the help of a total station. These
levels were sent to the Design consultant
who monitored these personally. In fact
after the concreting of each segment the
levels actually measured and as envisaged
by the designer fitted almost like a ‘T’.
This proves that the parameters fixed by
theDesign consultant and the parameters
as actually achieved during execution
were complimenting each other. The cables
were so placed that almost all the cables
were straight and without any kink. Thus
pre-stressing results were exactly as shown
in approved drawings both in terms of
extension and gauge pressure.