Bullet train corridor: Longest bridge on Narmada river in Gujarat to be completed by June 2024

Bharuch (Gujarat): A 1.2 kilometer long bridge over the Narmada river in Bharuch city of Gujarat is set to be the longest bridge on the 508 km Bullet Train corridor. The bridge is likely to be completed by June 2024, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) said on Wednesday.

They further informed that all the 20 bridges under construction on various rivers in Gujarat will be completed by June 2024.

"The adaption of the latest technology will reduce the construction time to almost half time in comparison to the construction of a bridge on any river. We are hopeful to get it complete by 2024," Pramod Sharma, Principal Executive Director with NHSRCL said.

Sharma was also a part of the team which constructed the Jammu-Udhampur-Katra project.

According to NHSRCL, there will be a total of 20 bridges constructed under the project as the bullet train will cross over rivers like Narmada, Sabarmati, Mahi, Par, Kaveri, Purna Ambika, Daroatha, Daman Ganga, Kolak, Mindhola, Anuraga, Kharera, Tapi, Kim, Dhadhar, Vishwamitri, Mohar, Vatrak and Meshwa.

"The longest bridge will be on Narmada followed by Tapi and Mahi that will be of around 720 meters. We are aiming to complete construction work of all bridges by June 2024," he said.

Sharma further informed that for the purpose of construction of wells inside the Narmada river stream (water wells), two temporary Access Bridge of eight-meter width are being constructed in two parts with a gap of 60 meters between them for allowing navigation.

"Narmada river has a tidal effect and it could have affected the construction work on the river. So we have constructed a temporary access bridge at a certain height to overcome the effect of rising water levels during monsoon. Now we can work round the clock the entire year," he added.

On Tuesday, the MD of the NHSRCL, SC Agnihotri said that the trial run on the Gujarat section of India's first-ever Bullet Train corridor- the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor, will begin in 2026.

However, services for the public will be rolled out by the year 2027. The Maximum Operational Speed of the train will be 320 Kmph. (ANI)