Coordinates: 9°16′57.25″N 79°12′5.

91″E

Pamban Bridge
Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge which connects the
Pamban Bridge
town of Mandapam in mainland India with Pamban
Island, and Rameswaram. Opened on 24 February
1914,[1] it was India's first sea bridge, and was the
longest sea bridge in India until the opening of the
Bandra-Worli Sea Link in 2010. The rail bridge is, for
the most part, a conventional bridge resting on concrete
piers, but has a double-leaf bascule section midway,
which can be raised to let ships and barges pass through.
Until 1988, the Pamban bridge was the only surface
transport that connected Tamil Nadu's island of
Rameswaram to the mainland. In December 2018, the
Pamban bridge
bascule of this bridge was damaged, which suspended
transportation on the bridge for 3 months. Rail Coordinates 9°16′57.25″N 79°12′5.91″E
movement was again restored on 27 February 2019. Carries Rail

In 1988, a road bridge was also constructed parallel to Locale Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu,
the rail bridge. This road bridge is also known as Annai India
Indira Gandhi Road Bridge. The Annai Indira Gandhi Owner Indian Railways
Road Bridge connects the National Highway (NH 49)
Characteristics
with the Rameswaram island. It stands on the Palk Strait
and between the shores of Mandapam (a place on the Total length 6,776 feet (2,065 m)
Indian mainland) and Pamban (one of the fishermen No. of spans 144
town in Rameswaram island). It was inaugurated by
Rail characteristics
former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 2 October
1988.[2] This 2.345  km long bridge took close to 14 No. of tracks 1
years to be completed. Track gauge broad gauge
History
Construction 1911
Contents start
History Construction 1914
Location end

Design Opened 1915

Planning and construction Location

Maintenance
Railway
Road
Accidents
Cultural references
See also
 References
External links

History
This bridge was built in 1914 to connect Rameshwaram Island with
mainland India.[3]

Location Pamban Road and Rail Bridge

The Pamban railway bridge spans a 2.06 km[4] wide strait between

the Indian mainland and Rameswaram Island. The mainland end of the bridge is located at 9°16′56.70″N
79°11′20.12″E. The bridge is located in a corrosive marine environment, making its maintenance a
challenging job. The location is also a cyclone-prone high wind velocity zone.[5]

Design
The railway bridge is located 12.5 metres (41  ft) above sea level
and is 6,776 ft (2,065 m) long.[5] The bridge consists of 143 piers
and has a double-leaf bascule section with a Scherzer rolling type
lift span that can be raised to let ships pass. Each half of the lifting
span weighs 415 tonnes (457 tons).[6] The two leaves of the bridge
are opened manually using levers.[5]

Planning and construction

Lifting spans allow small ships to
Plans for a bridge to connect to mainland was suggested in 1870[4] pass through
as the British Administration sought ways to increase trade with
Ceylon.[7] The construction began in August 1911 and was opened
on 24 February 1914.[8] The adjacent road bridge was opened in 1988.[7] As of 5 December 2018, the
bridge was closed due to a crack in the bridge and the maintenance work is going on.[9] The Indian
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced that a new railway bridge will be constructed near the old
Pamban Bridge at a cost of ₹250 crores.[10] This new dual track bridge is planned to be constructed in
automotive mode, allowing two ships to pass this bridge at the same time.

Maintenance
The bridge was damaged during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and required repair work.[11]
Strengthening work was carried out on the bridge under the supervision of E. Sreedharan in 2009 to enable
it to carry goods trains.[12][13] On 13 January 2013, the bridge required repair work to the piers after
suffering minor damage from a naval barge.[14][15] In 2016, the Ministry of Railways sanctioned ₹25 crore
(US$3.3  million) to replace the existing 65.23 metres (214.0  ft) long rolling type span with a 66 metres
(217 ft) long single truss span which could be opened automatically.[16] All train movement was stopped
from 5 December 2018 when a fissure was noticed on 4 December 2018.[17]

Rail movement on the bridge is restored as of 10 March 2019.

Railway
The railway bridge carried metre gauge trains connecting Mandapam on mainland India to Pamban. Indian
Railways upgraded the bridge to carry broad gauge trains and the work was completed on 12 August
2007.[7] From Pamban, the railway line bifurcated, one line towards Rameshwaram about 6.25 miles
(10.06 km) up and another branch line of 15 miles (24 km) terminating at Dhanushkodi.[18] The Boat mail
express runs from Chennai Egmore to Rameswaram. The train ran up to Dhanushkodi until 1964 when the
metre-gauge branch line from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was destroyed during the 1964 Dhanushkodi
cyclone.[19]

Road
The construction works of Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge was
commenced on 17 November 1974 by the Indian Highway
department and contracted to M/S Neelakandan Brothers Engs,
Madras.
After the 1978 cyclone the work was carried out slowly,
and few years later the contract was given to the New Gammon
India Ltd. The Government sanctioned ₹16.6514 crore by 1986.
The work was completed in 1988.[2]

Accidents Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge

On 23 December 1964, an estimated 7.6  m (25  ft) storm surge

struck the island, overturning the Pamban-Dhanuskodi passenger train killing more than 200 passengers on
board.[20] On 13 January 2013, the bridge suffered minor damage when a naval barge drifted into it.[14]

Cultural references
The national award winning Tamil movie Kannathil Muthamittal (2002) was filmed at the
Pamban Bridge.[21]
Parts of the Bollywood movie Chennai Express (2013) were filmed at the Pamban
Bridge.[21]

See also
Mahatma Gandhi Setu
Vikhroli Koparkhairane Link Road
Bandra–Worli Sea Link
List of longest bridges in the world
List of longest bridges above water in India

References
1. "Pamban Bridge, Application Pamban Bridge" (http://www.unisteelsengg.com/application-du
plex-steel-pamban-bridge.html). My Rameswaram. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
2. "Pamban Road Bridge: Annai Indira Gandhi Bridge" (http://myrameswaram.com/pamban-roa
d-bridge). 2017.
 3. "Pamban bridge: 10 awesome facts about India's first sea bridge - Pamban bridge: India's
first sea bridge" (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infrastructure/pamban-bridge-10-awe
some-facts-about-indias-first-sea-bridge/will-turn-100-in-february-2014/slideshow/25683811.
cms).
4. "Pamban Bridge, Pamban Railway Bridge" (http://myrameswaram.com/pamban-railway-brid
ge). My Rameswaram. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
5. T.E., Raja Simhan (21 November 2003). "Pamban Bridge to be pulled down for gauge
conversion" (http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2003/11/21/stories/2003112101991700.ht
m). The Hindu. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
6. Sri Raman, Papri (11 August 2007). "Bridge of memories – and to Rameswaram – reopens"
(https://web.archive.org/web/20131227080842/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/br
idge-of-memories-and-to-rameswaram-reopens/article1-241808.aspx). Hindustan Times.
Archived from the original (http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bridge-of-memories-a
nd-to-rameswaram-reopens/article1-241808.aspx) on 27 December 2013.
7. "Pamban bridge: 10 awesome facts about India's first sea bridge" (http://economictimes.indi
atimes.com/slideshows/infrastructure/pamban-bridge-10-awesome-facts-about-indias-first-s
ea-bridge/commissioned-on-february-24-1914/slideshow/25683764.cms). The Economic
Times.
8. Lalvani, Kartar (2016). The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise.
Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-2483-4.
9. "Train Services from Rameswaram to Mandapam Suspended due to Crack in Pamban
Bridge" (https://press108.online/india/train-services-from-rameswaram-to-mandapam-suspe
nded-due-to-crack-in-pamban-bridge/). Press108. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 1 March
2019.
10. "Ministry of Railways confirms New Bridge in Pamban" (https://press108.online/india/ministr
y-of-railways-confirms-new-bridge-in-pamban/). Press108. 25 December 2018. Retrieved
1 March 2019.
11. The Story of The Deities and The Temples in Southern Indian Peninsula. Trilochan Dash.
p. 178.
12. "Delhi's Subway Builder" (https://www.forbes.com/global/2009/0511/026-india-delhi-subway
-builder.html). Forbes. 1 May 2009.
13. "Strengthening of Pamban Railway Bridge" (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article51
9853.ece). The Hindu. 17 July 2010.
14. "Ship collides into century-old rail bridge" (http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/barge-collides-i
nto-century-old-rail-bridge-near-tamil-nadu-coast-316687). NDTV. 13 January 2013.
15. "Repair work on Pamban bridge fast progressing" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t
amil-nadu/repair-work-on-pamban-bridge-fast-progressing/article4310384.ece). The Hindu.
16 January 2013.
16. "Principal Chief Engineer inspects Pamban rail bridge" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/natio
nal/tamil-nadu/principal-chief-engineer-inspects-pamban-rail-bridge/article8283545.ece).
The Hindu. 26 February 2016.
17. "Trains to Rameswaram cancelled due to repair work on Pamban" (https://timesofindia.indiat
imes.com/city/chennai/trains-to-rameswaram-cancelled-due-to-repair-work-on-pamban-bridg
e/articleshow/66956514.cms). The Times of India. 5 December 2018.
18. Jethwa, Raja Pawan (2007). "Section II: Mileage wise available Details of Railway lines
laid". Shree Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya Samaj: A brief History & Glory of our fore-fathers. pp. 63–
70.
19. Jaishankar, C (17 July 2006). "Their sentiment to metre gauge train is unfathomable" (https://
web.archive.org/web/20071027141816/http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/17/stories/20060717
05960300.htm). The Hindu. Archived from the original (http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/17/sto
ries/2006071705960300.htm) on 27 October 2007.
20. Jaishankar, C. (24 December 2005). "Memory of the disaster still lingers" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20070105131113/http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/24/stories/2005122405580500.h
tm). The Hindu. Archived from the original (http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/24/stories/200512
2405580500.htm) on 5 January 2007.
21. "Annai Indira Gandhi Bridge in Rameswaram" (https://www.makemytrip.com/travel-guide/ra
meswaram/annai-indira-gandhi-bridge-landmarks.html). Make My Trip.

External links
Pamban Bridge, Ramanathapuram, official site (https://ramanathapuram.nic.in/tourist-place/
pamban-bridge/)
Pamban Bridge (http://www.pambanbridge.com/)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pamban_Bridge&oldid=1078626062"

This page was last edited on 22 March 2022, at 14:13 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;

additional terms may apply. By
using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.