Anji Khad Bridge: India’s First Cable-Stayed Railway Bridge!

The Indian Railways have attained numerous accolades for achieving several milestones by outperforming various areas of rail passenger services. Along with this, they are also major promoters of the country’s tourism sector. Whether providing the best train services or building architectural marvels, the Railways have always set a unique trademark. There are many instances where the Railways have gone beyond their limits to set a unique example for themselves. The perfect reflection of the Railways’ exemplary architectural marvel is the construction of the country’s first Cable-Stayed Railway Bridge — Anji Khad Bridge.

Even with the most difficult terrain surface, the Anji Khad Bridge of the Indian Railways is commendable. Showing their best and finest expertise, the dedicated team of the Northern Railway’s Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail (U.S.B.R.L.) project has constructed it on the Anji Khad River in the Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir. It is worth noting that the Anji Khad River is a tributary of the Chenab River! The geographic and demographic conditions of the area have made the bridge asymmetrical in shape.

With the construction of the bridge, the distance of the track from Katra to Anji Khad Bridge will be 13 km and only 8 km from the Reasi area. Located at a total distance of about 80 kilometers from Jammu, one can reach the bridge by road from the Reasi District. The typography of the geographical area gives the Anji Khad Bridge a perfect asymmetrical shape.

The main pylon of the 473.25 meters long asymmetrical bridge will be supported by 48 cables on both sides. However, the decrease in the distance towards the corner of the Reasi District Area gives the Anji Khad Bridge a proper asymmetrical shape. With a main span of 290 meters, the bridge has a deck of a total of 15 meters in breadth. Constructed at a height of around 193 meters from the foundation, the bridge’s main pylon is about 331 meters above the riverbed.

Known as one of the architectural marvels of the country, the Anji Bridge will be constructed with 96 cables measuring around 82 meters to 295 meters in length. The design wind speed of this bridge is estimated to be 213 kmph. The bridge can withstand any weather conditions effectively. The Anji Bridge will be one of the best construction masterpieces of Indian Railways engineers in the time to come.