Manipur is now acclaimed to have the world’s tallest railway bridge as confirmed by Northeast Frontier Railway .The bridge is being constructed across the valley of river Ijai near Noney with a pier height of 141 metre. It will surpass the existing record of 139 metre of Mala-Rijeka viaduct, Montenegro in Europe,”
The bridge is part of the 111-km long Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new broad gauge line project being constructed to connect the northeastern state with the rest of the country and the pillars have already been built.
The Senior PRO S K Ojha has stated that “We have achieved a significant step in constructing the world’s tallest bridge near Noney. We are successful in making it India’s tallest structure by passing over the 100 metre mark. After being completed it is going to surpass the existing record of 139 metre of Mala-Rijeka viaduct at Montenegro in Europe.”
Due to its importance as a national project it picked momentum in the last three years. it is targeted to be get ready by 2022. On completion, the bridge will be featured with a total of 45 tunnels and the longest tunnel will be 10.280 km long. This will be the longest railway tunnel in the North East.
Mr.Ojha added, to build such huge structure is certainly a herculean task. The total length of the bridge will be 703 metre.The tall piers required specially designed ‘slip-form technique’ and hydraulic augers are being used for its construction. The steel girders are first designed in a workshop and then transported in segments and erected at site by cantilever launching scheme.
