The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has achieved remarkable advancements by completing the construction of three river bridges in the month of June for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR).
According to an official statement released on 2 July, the NHSRCL announced that these bridges are situated in Gujarat, between the Bilimora and Surat stations of the bullet train project.
The Completed River Bridges For The Corridor
Out of the three bridges completed in June, the first bridge was completed on Purna river in Navsari district, Gujarat.
The 360-metre-long river bridge atop Purna river consists of nine full span girders, each 40 metre long. The height of pier on which these girders rests ranges from 10 to 20 metre and the circular piers are four to five metre in diameter.
“For this bridge, foundation work was challenging as water levels in the river kept rising between five to six metre every fortnight due to high tides,” said NHSRCL.
The construction of the second river bridge was successfully concluded, spanning the Mindhola river, also in Navsari district This bridge measures 240 metre in length and consists of six full span girders.
Similarly, the third river bridge, situated on the Ambika River in Navsari district, has been completed. This bridge spans 200 metre in length and comprises five full span girders.
In the statement, Rajendra Prasad, Managing Director, NHSRCL said that construction of bridges over the rivers is very challenging and meticulous planning is required.
“During the construction of bridges over Mindhola and Purna rivers, the tides from the Arabian sea were closely monitored,“ he said.
The construction of the third bridge atop Ambika river was a challenging task as there was a steep slope of the river bank and underground rocky strata during piling, as per the statement.
So far, four river bridges have been completed for the MAHSR corridor in the past six months.
Earlier in February 2023, the first river bridge on the MAHSR project was completed. The 320-metre-long bridge has been built over Par River between Vapi and Bilimora stations in Valsad district of Gujarat.
Country’s First Bullet Train Project
Presently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail is the only sanctioned high-speed rail project in the country.
A total of 24 bridges will be constructed under this project as the bullet train will cross over rivers like Narmada, Sabarmati, Mahi, Par, Kaveri and Tapi among others. This includes 20 bridges in Gujarat and four in Maharashtra.
The longest bridge in Gujarat spans 1.2 kilometre and is currently under construction over the Narmada River.
In Maharashtra, the longest bridge measures 2.28 kilometre and is being built over the Vaitarna river, reports Economic Times.
The High-Speed Rail will cover a distance of 508.17 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in just about two hours.
It will cover 155.76 km in Maharashtra, 4.3 km in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 348.04 km in Gujarat, with a total of 12 stations.
The NHSRCL expects to launch the first phase of the bullet train project in 2026.