It will be first cable-stayed bridge in north India and fourth in the country, after Rajeev Gandhi Sea Link in Mumbai, Hooghly Bridge in Kolkata and Naini Bridge in Allahabad.
Forget terror, Jammu and Kashmir is all set to create a history by becoming only the fourth state in the country to house the state-of-the-art cable-stayed bridge connecting three strategically-important north Indian states.
Constructed by Border Roads Organization (BRO) at an estimated cost of Rs 145 crore, the 592 meter span bridge on river Ravi will be dedicated to the nation by the defence minister Manohar Parrikar at Basohli on Thursday.
It will be first cable-stayed bridge in north India and fourth in the country, after Rajeev Gandhi Sea Link in Mumbai, Hooghly Bridge in Kolkata and Naini Bridge in Allahabad.
"The work on the maiden cable stayed bridge of the state was started in September 2010 on the persistent demand of people of Basohli Twenty two villages got submerged and had to be evacuated to other places after the construction of Ranjit Sagar dam," said an official spokesman.
Designed by Canadian Company `Infinity Engineers', the peculiarity of this bridge is that the main span and back span are balanced by cable. Nearly 300 ton specially designed cables were needed for this bridge which has been procured from Japan and Spain.
"Not only the Indian engineers and consultants, the agencies from Canada, Japan, Spain and Switzerland were engaged for the completion of this prestigious project by the BRO," said the spokesman.
Considered to be an engineering marvel, the Ravi bridge has a tower height of about 88 meters above deck level. The decking and the span regions will only be supported by cables. There will be 1.5 meter wide footpaths on both sides.
"Out of 592 meter Span bridge 350 meter is cable stayed while rest is plain. Cable stayed-bridges have a low-center of gravity, which makes them efficient in resisting earthquakes. Cable stayed bridges provide outstanding architectural appearance due to their small diameter cables and unique overhead structure," said the spokesman.
It took five years to complete the strategically important cable-stayed bridge which will connect Jammu and Kashmir with Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Once commissioned, the Ravi bridge will help the armed forces to cut the reaction time in rushing troops to the forward areas in case of exigencies.
"This bridge is strategically important from defence point of view also. It is first of its kind in north India having second longest span in India," said the spokesman.
The strategically important bridge will also help in bringing far flung areas of Kathua and Doda districts on the tourism map, which otherwise had been left out in Jammu and Kashmir.
Specially designed cables used
Designed by Canadian Company `Infinity Engineers', the peculiarity of this bridge is that the main span and back span are balanced by cable. Nearly 300 ton specially designed cables were needed for this bridge which has been procured from Japan and Spain. "The work on the maiden cable stayed bridge of the state was started in September 2010 on the persistent demand of people of Basohli Twenty two villages got submerged and had to be evacuated to other places after the construction of Ranjit Sagar dam," said an official spokesman.
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