Rail track poses great challenge

April 1,2004

Rail track poses great challenge UDHAMPUR: The 287 km long mountainous rail track between Jammu and Baramula in the Kashmir valley is posing new challenges to engineers every day. The track is being laid through the turbulent Chenab and the mighty Pirpanjal range. Although the Railways has fixed 2007 as the target for linking Kashmir with the rest of the country by rail, yet there was remote possibility of meeting the deadline because of the difficult terrain. The construction of country's highest railway girder bridge on the Ghambhir nullah on the Jammu-Udhampur section poses a great challenge to engineers. The picture shows the bridge launched after being fabricated. Rail track poses great challenge S.P. Sharma Tribune News Service UDHAMPUR: The 287 km long mountainous rail track between Jammu and Baramula in the Kashmir valley is posing new challenges to engineers every day. The track is being laid through the turbulent Chenab and the mighty Pirpanjal range. Although the Railways has fixed 2007 as the target for linking Kashmir with the rest of the country by rail, yet there was remote possibility of meeting the deadline because of the difficult terrain. What was the biggest problem was that the J&K Government has not mapped the area between Katra and Qazigund through which about 143 km of the rail track would pass. The railway engineers doing the mapping have many times come across terrorists. The Railways has already encountered many geological surprises while laying the 54 km track between Jammu and Udhampur. The bridge over the Ghambhir nullah had to be relocated as it posed a challenge right from the foundation stage as a deep crack in the earth was detected. Mr Rakesh Chander, Chief Administrative Officer, of the rail project said that the Himalayas being a young mountain, the soil on almost the entire route was weak and special measures were being taken to reinforce it. Moreover, most parts of the route were prone to landslides. A lot of cutting work was involved, as the mountain slopes were very steep. The route falls in the highly seismic zone 4 that was prone to earthquake. It is a continuous search for stable places as lack of access roads was also causing a problem. The first thing that the Railways had to do was to construct over 350 km of approach roads to start the work. Being the only such a long mountainous track in the country, the Railways was expecting to achieve many firsts while accomplishing the job. However, the working season in the mountains is very short as the work comes to a standstill during snow. Mr Rakesh Chander said that the fourth longest arch bridge in the world would be constructed over the Chenab. The longest 90 metres bridge would be constructed over the Jhajjar nullah ahead of Katra. The engineers and labourers engaged in laying the track beyond Katra have to live in tents in the jungle, as there were hardly any inhabited villages around. Beginning from the ground level of 340 metres in Jammu, the rail line would touch the highest point of 2892 metres at a distance of 158 km beyond Charil in Banihal where the Pirpanjal ranges begin. Thereafter, it would gradually descend to 1579 metres in Baramula. It will have 26 stations between Jammu and Baramula. The project was estimated to cost about Rs 6000 crore. Work is proceeding simultaneously between Qazigund and Baramula in the valley. There are no tunnels to be bored in Kashmir, but heavy bridging work is involved particularly across the river Jhelum and its tributaries. The land being in the flood plain of river Jhelum has very soft soil structure with a very high water table. This was presenting a challenge o a different kind.