Construction of world's tallest railway bridge begins in Manipur

Guwahati, Jul 29: Construction of the world's tallest railway bridge from the point of pillar height has begun in

by the Northeast Frontier Railway Construction Organisation.

The proposed bridge near Noney with pillar height up to 141 metres is slated to become the tallest in the world from the point of pillar height surpassing the existing tallest of Mala-Rijeka viaduct on Belgrade-Bar railway line in Europe where the height of pillars is 139 metre, said an N-F Railway spokesman.

The bridge in Manipur is part of the 111 km-long Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line to connect the capital of Manipur with the broad gauge network of the country, the spokesman said. The alignment of the railway line passes through steep rolling hills of Patkai region, eastern trail of the Himalayas, he said.

While Jiribam, a small town of Manipur near Assam-Manipur border, is situated 37 metres above mean sea level (MSL), Imphal is situated at 780 metres above MSL.

The alignment has to traverse through not only a number of deep gorges but over several rivers flowing at low ground levels necessitating construction of 46 tunnels measuring a total 54.5 km in length and tall bridges to maintain a suitable gradient for efficient operation of railway, he said. The longest tunnel will be 4.9 km long between Jiribam-Tupul and 10.75 km between Tupul-Imphal section.

PTI