Chenab Rail Bridge

The Chenab Bridge is an arch bridge under construction. It spans the Chenab River between Bakkal and Kauri, in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. When completed, the bridge is said to come up as world’s tallest and longest, will also be the safest in the country from the security point of view.

The Bridge is a part of the Jammu-Baramulla rail line now under execution that would link Kashmir with the rest of the country.

The project was launched in 2003 but was suspended in 2008 for reviewing the alignments, when attention was focused on securing the bridge from possible attack. The tall rail bridge — 359 metres from the river bed — has been designed to withstand wind speed of up to 260 km an hour, though the in-built system will automatically stop movement of trains as and when the wind velocity reaches 90 to 100 km an hour. Generally the wind blows at about 40 km per hour at these higher reaches. It will be possibly completed in 42 months, the latest by 2016. When completed, the bridge will be 1,315 m long, with a 480 m trussed arch span 359 m above the river Chenab.