Indian Railways to use Aluminium alloy span in Pamban steel Rail Bridge

Indian Railways have taken a decision to use a span made of Aluminium alloy in a steel rail bridge.  In this welcoming move, Railways would replace the ageing Scherzer’s span, designed by a German Engineer, at the century-old Pamban Rail Bridge with an aluminium alloy span that will be strong durable and corrosion free.

Indian officials were exploring the options of using Corrosion Resistant Steel (CRS) or less weight Aluminium alloy at the Pamban Rail Bridge that pave way for vessels to pass through the Palk Strait. M. Suyambulingam, Chief Engineer (Bridges), said that they decided in favour of the latter because of its durability and streangth.

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“It has been decided to make the span in Aluminium alloy, which has superior strength and longer life in the highly corrosive area,” Mr. Suyambulingam told The Hindu regarding the choice for aluminium.

Though a number of overseas firms are showing interest in the project, the supplier would be finalised after floating a global tender and completing the process, he said. He also added that the pre-bid meeting for the project is already completed.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) would start the replacement work in November as soon as the material would be available. Indian Railways chose RVNL to execute the said project.

The aluminium technology is the new advanced option that the Indian Railways would be using for the first time in its steel rail bridges, and this would pave the way for more and more aluminium application in railways.

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INR 35 crore has already been sanctioned by the Railways for replacing the existing 66-metre-long two leaves Scherzer’s span with a single truss aluminium alloy span.

It is to be noted here that the single span technology for the bridge was designed by the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras.