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The new 2.05 kilometre Pamban Bridge will allow trains to cross the sea between mainland India and Rameswaram Island in Tamil Nadu in less than 5 minutes, significantly less than the previous 25-30 minutes on the old structure, railway officials said on Monday. The bridge is ready to be dedicated to the nation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate it within the next few weeks, though a date is yet to be decided, he added. "Trains used to take 25-30 minutes to cross the old colonial-era Pamban Bridge between Mandapam and Rameswaram Islands due to a speed limit of 10 kmph. It was closed for traffic in 2022. On the new bridge, trains will pass at a maximum speed of 75 kmph," the official said during a media visit. Trials have been completed on the new bridge and safety certifications have been received, he said. "The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has approved a speed limit of 75 kmph for the bridge, except for the vertical lift portion. The new bridge is ..
The Railways has successfully conducted a trial run of a tower wagon on India's first cable-stayed rail bridge, the Anji Khad Bridge, in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, paving the way for the start of rail services to Kashmir in January next year. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared a video clip of the trial run on the social media platform X. The railway ministry issued a statement, saying, "Giving wings to connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir, the trial run of a tower wagon on India's first cable-stayed rail bridge, the Anji Khad Bridge, was successfully completed for the USBRL project." The work on the railway bridge at Anji Khad was completed last month. The completion of the bridge received praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project is aimed at providing rail connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the country. The Anji Khad Bridge, featuring a single pylon with a height of 331 metres abov
More than 50 lakh vehicles travelled on Atal Setu, the country's longest sea bridge, since it was opened for traffic on January 13 this year, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority said on Monday. In a release, the MMRDA said 50,04,350 vehicles, including BEST, NMMT and MSRTC's Shivneri buses, have travelled between January 13 and August 26 on the sea bridge linking Sewri in Mumbai and Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai, which suggests a daily average of 22,000 vehicles (over 227 days). "The vehicles comprise 47.40 lakh cars, 50,020 mini buses and light motor vehicles, 59,799 double-axle vehicles, 73,074 three-axle vehicles, 80,277 four-six axle vehicles and 503 oversized vehicles," a spokesperson said. The sea bridge was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12, while it was thrown open to the public the next day. "The extraordinary usage highlights the bridge's role in easing congestion and reducing travel time between south Mumbai and key destinations such
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has assured he will expedite the construction of a double-decker cable-stayed iconic bridge between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the Krishna River, the Telangana government said on Saturday. The assurance came during a meeting with Telangana Tourism and Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao in New Delhi. Gadkari responded positively to Rao's request to fast-track the project and assured him that all necessary procedures would be completed, with tenders set to be launched by September end, an official statement said. The Rs 1,082.56 crore-bridge, connecting Somashila in Telangana and Sangameshwar in Andhra Pradesh, has been pending for two years due to various reasons. Rao, during the meeting, had an extensive discussion on the bridge construction, which falls in the Kollapur constituency, as well as various national highway development projects in the Mahbubnagar district. The bridge is expected to promote environmental
A portion of an under-construction bridge in Bihar, which was being "dismantled", crashed into the river Ganges river on Saturday, officials said. The administration made it clear there were no casualties. Video footage of a slab of the bridge, connecting Bhagalpur and Khagaria districts, has gone viral on social media in which locals, beholding the sight from a distance, can be heard screaming "the structure has collapsed once again". Notably, portions of the bridge, which would be 3.16 km long once complete, had collapsed earlier in 2022 and again, a year later. However, when contacted, Khagaria District Magistrate Amit Kumar Pandey asserted that "the entire structure of the under-construction bridge has been deemed to be faulty and it is being dismantled by the contractor as per direction of the Patna High Court". The incident, which comes in the backdrop of numerous incidents of bridge collapse across the state, many of these taking place a few months back, triggered a politic
A section of an under-construction bridge over the Ganga collapsed in Bihar on Saturday, officials said. Khagaria's District Magistrate Amit Kumar Pandey told PTI that a slab of the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge collapsed around 8 am. "I must tell one thing the entire structure of the under-construction bridge, which is faulty, is supposed to be dismantled by the contractor. The construction work has already been stopped there. The contractor is dismantling the structure at the direction of the Patna High Court," he said. No casualty was reported in the incident, he said. Last year, four-five pillars of the bridge collapsed, causing the entire section to collapse into the river. A slew of bridges have collapsed in the state over the last few months, raising questions over the quality of construction.
At least 12 people were killed in a bridge collapse and more than 60 others went missing in flash floods in China's Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces, officials said on Saturday. The highway bridge collapse triggered by torrential rains in northwest Shaanxi Province killed 12 people and left 31 others missing, local authorities said. The bridge, located in Zhashui County in Shangluo City, partially collapsed around 8:40 pm on Friday due to a sudden downpour and flash floods, according to the provincial publicity department. So far, rescue workers have found 12 dead bodies and rescued one person, said the ruling Chinese Communist Party's provincial committee. The collapse caused 17 cars and eight trucks to plunge into the Jinqian River below the bridge, according to initial investigations. Rescue officials have recovered seven vehicles that had fallen into the swollen river. Thirty-one people remain unaccounted for, and search efforts are ongoing, state-run Xinhua news agency ...
In a troubling trend for Bihar, a portion of a bridge over Gandaki river in Siwan district collapsed on Wednesday morning, marking the seventh such incident in the state within the past 15 days. The small bridge, situated in the district's Deoria block, connects several villages with Mahrajganj. No casualties have been reported so far. This is the second incident of bridge collapse in Siwan in the last 11 days. Deputy Development Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said the exact cause is under investigation. Senior officials from the block have already reached the site, he added. "A portion of a bridge in Deoria block collapsed this morning. The exact cause is not known so far. Senior officials of the block have reached the spot and I am also going there," he added. "The incident took place around 5 am. As per initial information, the bridge was constructed in 1982-83. Repair work was going on the bridge for the last few days," Kumar added. Villagers suggested that heavy rainfall over the
A bridge caved in at Kishanganj district on Thursday in the fourth incident of its kind in Bihar in just over a week, officials said. The bridge, situated in Bahadurganj block, was 70 meters long and 12 meters wide, District Magistrate Tushar Singla said. "The bridge was built in 2011 over Madiya, a small tributary that connects the Kankai river to the Mahananda. Heavy rainfall in the catchment area in Nepal has led to a sudden rise in the water level. One of the pillars of the bridge could not withstand the strong current," he said. No one was injured in the incident, he said. Barricading has been done at both ends of the bridge to prevent any type of movement while repair work was on, he added. Three incidents of bridge collapse were reported last week from Araria, Siwan and Araria districts. In the last few years, a number of similar incidents have taken place in various parts of the state, and though no fatalities have been caused, these have led to questions being raised on
A small bridge collapsed in Siwan district on Saturday in the second incident of its kind in Bihar in less than a week, officials said. The bridge was erected over a canal, connecting the villages of Daraunda and Maharajganj blocks, and it caved in at around 5 am, said District Magistrate Mukul Kumar Gupta. "Nobody was injured in the incident. It was a very old structure and apparently, pillars caved in when water was released through the canal. We are trying to ensure that until it is restored, residents of affected villages face as little inconvenience as possible," the DM told PTI. Daraunda BDO Surya Pratap Singh said, "Locals claim the bridge was built way back in 1991 with contributions from the then Maharajganj MLA Uma Shankar Singh". Anil Kumar, the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Maharajganj, confirmed that the "the 20 feet long brick structure" had been built through MLA's local area development fund and added, "based on the investigation report further action will be ...
Crew members on the cargo ship Dali can head home as soon as Thursday under an agreement that allows lawyers to question them as part of investigations into the cause of the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. Attorneys had asked the judge Tuesday to prevent the roughly two dozen total crew members - all hailing from India or Sri Lanka - from leaving. Eight of the Dali's crew members were scheduled to return home, according to emails included in court filings. None of the crew members has been able to leave the U.S. since their ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns on March 26. Under the agreement, which was confirmed by U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar during a hearing Thursday, the crew can return home but must be available for depositions. In the court filings, attorneys representing the City of Baltimore said the men should remain in the U.S. so they can be deposed in ongoing civil litigation to decide who is responsible
The Baltimore port, one of America's largest shipping hubs, formally reopened on Wednesday, 11 weeks after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed when it was struck by a massive cargo ship mostly manned by Indians. The 2.6-km-long, four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River collapsed on March 26 after the 984-foot ship Dali' crashed into it. The crew onboard the crippled ship included 20 Indians and one Sri Lankan. I made clear that my Administration would move heaven and earth to reopen the Port of Baltimore one of our nation's largest shipping hubs. Today, thanks to the tireless work by the men and women in the Unified Command, the full navigation channel is now open to all vessel traffic, allowing a full return of commerce to the Port of Baltimore, US President Joe Biden said in a statement. Disruptions from the March 26 bridge collapse have cost the Baltimore region's economy about USD 1.2 billion, said Anirban Basu, an economist with Sage Policy Group, a ...
As divers assisted crews with the complicated and meticulous operation of removing the steel and concrete from the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, some near the site took time on Easter Sunday to reflect on the six workers presumed to have plunged to their deaths. As cranes periodically swung into place and workers measured and cut the steel to prepare to lift sections of twisted steel, Rev. Ako Walker held a Mass in Spanish at Sacred Heart of Jesus, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) up the Patapsco River from the collapse. Yes we can rebuild a bridge, but we have to look at the way in which migrant workers are treated and how best we can improve their situation as they come to the United States of America, Walker said of the men who were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and were patching potholes. Dive teams were in the river Sunday surveying parts of the bridge underwater and checking on the ship to ensure it can be safely floated away once the wreckage is