New Delhi: Indian Railways is constructing the world’s tallest pier bridge in Manipur. The bridge which is being constructed across river Ijai near Noney is an engineering marvel because the tallest pier height will be 141 meter.
It will surpass the existing record of 139 meter of Mala – Rijeka viaduct, Montenegro in Europe. The Manipur bridge is located at the hilly terrain of Marangching village in Noney district, about 65 km west of Imphal. The total estimated cost of the bridge is 280 crore rupees, and it will be completed by March 2022.
The bridge is a part of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new BG line project. The total length of the bridge will be 703 meter. The piers of the bridge are constructed using hydraulic augers, the tall piers needed specially designed “slip-form technique” to ensure efficient and continual construction.
The steel girders used in the construction of the bridge are pre-fabricated in a workshop, transported in segments and erected at the site by Cantilever launching scheme. A North East Frontier Railway official said, there are a total of 45 tunnels in the project. The longest is Tunnel No. 12 with a length of 10.280 km. This will be the longest railway tunnel in the North East.