In a significant milestone reflecting Indian Railways’ commitment to safe, modern and passenger-centric infrastructure, a 100 m long ‘Make in India’ steel bridge has been successfully completed over the underground metro tunnel in Ahmedabad district for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project. This is the 13th steel bridge completed in Gujarat, out of a total of 17 steel bridges planned in the state, strengthening high-speed rail connectivity while ensuring the safety of existing urban transport systems.

In Ahmedabad district, the Bullet Train viaduct is being constructed using span-by-span structures with spans ranging from 30 to 50 metres. However, at this location, the alignment passes over the underground metro tunnel connecting Kalupur and Shahpur metro stations. To ensure that no load from the Bullet Train structure is transferred onto the metro tunnel, the foundations were kept well away from it. This necessitated increasing the span length to about 100 metres. Accordingly, the superstructure configuration at this stretch was redesigned from an SBS viaduct to a Steel Truss Bridge, ensuring structural safety for both the Bullet Train corridor and the metro infrastructure, thereby safeguarding public assets and passenger movement.

The bridge was assembled at a height of 16.5 metres from the ground on temporary trestles at the site. After completion of the assembly, the temporary supports were carefully dismantled, and the bridge was lowered and placed precisely on the permanent support system, ensuring safety and structural accuracy.

Weighing 1,098 metric tons, the steel bridge is located parallel to the Ahmedabad–Sabarmati main line of Western Railways. The structure measures 14 metres in height and 15.5 metres in width. It was fabricated in a workshop at Wardha, Maharashtra, and transported to the site on trailers, highlighting indigenous manufacturing capability under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

To facilitate the assembly of the main structure, a temporary platform measuring 11.5 x 100 metres was constructed at the site. The bridge has been constructed using approximately 45,186 Tor-Shear Type High Strength (TTHS) bolts and is coated with C5 system protective painting along with elastomeric bearings, ensuring enhanced durability, long service life and passenger safety.

This achievement underscores Indian Railways’ focused efforts to deliver safe, reliable and future-ready infrastructure for passengers and the common public, while seamlessly integrating high-speed rail projects with existing urban transport networks.

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Dharmendra Tewari/ Dr. Nayan Solanki/ Ritu Raj