First Steel Bridge Ready on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project

In a milestone for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) successfully erected the first steel bridge. This development took place near Kamrej Toll Plaza on NH53 in Surat, marking a remarkable engineering feat in India’s bullet train project.
The newly erected steel bridge stands at an impressive 70 meters in length, with a height ranging from 12 to 14 meters. What makes this accomplishment even more remarkable is the sheer weight of the bridge, totalling a massive 673 metric tonne, divided into 700 individual pieces.
The project aims to construct a total of 28 such steel bridges, with a combined weight of approximately 70,000 metric tonne. These bridges will vary in size from 60 meters in ‘simply supported’ spans to larger spans of 130+100 meters. Out of the 28 bridges, 17 will be installed in Gujarat, while the remaining 11 in Maharashtra.
Steel bridges are a particularly suitable choice for crossing highways, expressways and railway lines. Unlike pre-stressed concrete bridges, which typically span 40 to 45 meters and are suitable for various applications, steel bridges offer unique advantages. India has a proven expertise in fabricating steel bridges capable of supporting heavy-haul and semi-high-speed trains, running at speeds between 100 and 160 km/h.
The bridge’s construction journey is equally remarkable. It was manufactured in a workshop located in Hapur district near Delhi, a distance of 1,200 km from the installation site. Stringent quality control measures were in place throughout the production process.