India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge, the Anji Khad bridge, is set to be completed in May of 2023, after missing several deadlines, including those in 2017 and 2022. The delay in the construction of the bridge, which is a critical component of the Indian Railways’ ambitious plan to connect Kashmir to the rest of India, has been a major setback.
Despite the obstacles, all 96 cables required to construct the bridge have been fully installed as of April 26, 2023, in a record eleven-month timeframe between June 2022 and April 2023. The Anji bridge has a total of 96 cables—48 cables each on the lateral and central spans, with a total weight of 848.7 metric tonnes and a total length of cable strands running into 653 kilometers.
Of the total 47 segments, 44 have already been launched, with the balance three segments yet to be launched as per the design. Once completed, the 725-meter-long asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, standing at a height of 331 meters above the river-bed, will pave the way for a single broad gauge track for trains connecting Jammu to Baramulla via Srinagar along a 326-km railway line. The project is overseen by the Northern Railways and is being executed by the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and Hindustan Construction Company.