Latest revision as of 09:57, 26 April 2025

[edit] As in 2023

Arockiaraj J, Nov 16, 2023: The Times of India

GOODBYE PAMBAN, THANK YOU FOR A CENTURY OF SERVICE

Worn By Time And Corrosion, The Rail Bridge, Among India’s Oldest, Will Make Way For A Taller, Longer, Sturdier Vertical Sealift

The 2km Pamban Rail Bridge wears a deserted look. So does its magnificent Scherzer’s span. But a few metres away is a hub of activity as a host of workers work on a new railway bridge, likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a couple of months.


With 90% of the new bridge being complete, the old Pamban bridge, built in 1914, will reportedl y be dismantled soon. And heritage enthusiasts and rail fans are upset. Earlier this week, a group from Pamban led by former panchayat president M Patrick approached the Ramanathapuram district administration urging the state and Union governments not to dismantle the old bridge. “It was the first proper route to the mainland. This bridge carries lots of memories,” says Patrick. “The old bridge can be turned into a tourist attraction. A sea walk can be planned,” says Edward Jeni, secretary of the Kanyakumari District Rail Users Association. Over the years, Pamban Bridge has been saved a couple of times from being dismantled. President A P J Abdul Kalam saved the meter gauge train bridge from being dismantled in 2007 when Indian Railways adopted the unigauge (broad gauge) across the country. The Indian Railways retained the bridge with alterations.


When the bridge celebrated its centenary in 2014, Kalam presided over the inaugural. “I love Pamban Bridge,” Kalam had said, narrating how his livelihood depended on the bridge. He said that as a schoolboy who distributed newspapers that arrived by train, he would get a copy after work and cut out pictures of Second World War aircraft, a pastime that drew him to rocket science.


In 1964, the Supercyclone that ravaged Rameswaram island turned the buzzing port town of Dhanushkodi into a wasteland. On December 22, the Pamban-Dhanushkodi passenger train was washed into the sea and 110 lives were lost. The entire railway line on Pamban Bridge was destroyed, the 126 girders reduced to 19 and the Scherzer’s span.


Even before carving a reputation as India’s Metro Man, engineer E Sreedharan managed to restore the bridge in 45 days against the expected time frame of six months. “Our fathers used to talk about how they worked to rebuild the bridge because it was the only lifeline we had with the mainland,” says Patrick. The road bridge was inaugurated in 1988. In 2013, a year before the bridge turned 100, a grounded barge slammed against it, damaging one of its pillars. The railways repaired the pillar and traffic resumed.
But as years passed, corrosion began to take a toll. Rail traffic was suspended from December 2022 after sensors started sending red alerts. Southern Railway suspended traffic permanently after IIT-Madras and the Research Design and Standards Organisation of Indian Railways expressed apprehensions about stability. Also, with the railways moving towards electrification, the prospects of altering the old bridge for electrification and doubling are bleak, so building a new bridge turned out inevitable.
And with that, Indian Railway’s Bridge No 346, India’s first sea bridge, will be retired.
Email your feedback to southpole.toi@timesgroup.com


OLD VS NEW


➤ New Pamban bridge | The new bridge has 99 spans with 18.3m long girders


➤The Vertical Lift, first of its kind in the country, will allow full horizontal length of 72.5m for navigation


➤ 3m higher than old bridge with navigational air-clearance of 22m above mean sea level Designed for double line and future electrification of railway line


➤ The Vertical Lift span will have electromechanical control interlocked with train control system


➤ Old Pamban rail bridge | 2,054m long; 145 spans of 12.2m long steel girders


➤ Scherzer’s Span (named after the bridge’s engineer) has a 61m steel truss, opens for a maximum of 81 degrees in the vertical plane to let boats through


➤ The bridge was designed for narrow gauge and upgraded to broad gauge in 2007 for 24 crore


➤ The Scherzer’s Span was operated manually


BACK IN TIME


➤ Though the British surveyed the possibilities of laying a railway line on Adam’s bridge, they managed Ceylon-India connectivity through a ferry service between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar piers. Pamban Railway Bridge construction began in 1910 and was completed in December 1913. The bridge was inaugurated on February 24, 1914


➤ The book ‘Southern Railway – a Saga of 150 Glorious Years 1852-2003’ published by Southern Railway says in 1895, the British wanted to connect through India and Sri Lanka through a railway line from Rameswaram to Mannar. Ceylon built a 67-mile railway line from Madavachi to Talaimannar and on the Indian side the Madurai-Mandapam railway was proposed to be extended across the Pamban Pass with a bridge to Rameswaram island and towards Dhanushkodi

[edit] 2025: A new bridge

Dheeraj Mishra, April 6, 2025: The Indian Express

The new bridge will replace the century-old original Pamban Bridge and is considered an engineering marvel with the tag of becoming India’s First Vertical Lift Railway Sea Bridge. Built with stainless steel reinforcements and Polysiloxane Paint, the bridge is designed to withstand harsh marine conditions. Its expected lifespan is up to 58 years. It has an automated electro-mechanical lift system, which will help the bridge rise to 17 meters, allowing smooth ship passage.

With its genesis in the Indo-Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) trade during the British Era, the old bridge stood firm even during the horrific 1964 tsunami when a train full of passengers was washed away. According to railway officials, the new bridge is a testament to the railways’ engineering prowess and has elevated the benchmark of India’s infrastructure.

The construction of the old Pamban Bridge started in 1911 and was opened to traffic in 1914. It was India’s first sea bridge, built for trade. In those days of British rule, the ships used to ply between two ports – Dhanushkodi, at the south-eastern tip of the Pamban or Rameswaram Island, and now abandoned, and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. During the 1964 Tsunami, Dhanushkodi was entirely destroyed and it is still uninhabited.

The old bridge had a double-leaf bascule section with a Scherzer rolling-type lift span that used to be raised to let ships pass. It is considered a technical marvel as the bridge was constructed with lesser availability and the corrosive environment it withstood. It remained India’s longest sea link until the Bandra-Worli sea link opened in 2010.

The 1964 cyclone

On the night of December 23, 1964, a fierce tidal wave or tsunami hit Pamban Island very badly. The six coaches of the 653 Pamban-Dhanushkodi Passenger train crossed the bridge at around 11 pm and were en route to Dhanushkodi from Rameswaram.

Dhanushkodi was the railhead for Indo-Ceylon traffic from where steamer service run by the Southern Railway to Talaimannar in Ceylon was available. It is the extreme point on Rameswaram Island. The island is approached from Mandapam, crossing the sea by the Pamban Bridge, beyond which Pamban Junction is situated. The line here branches off into two directions- one going to Rameswaram to the North-east and the other towards Dhanushkodi to the East. To its south is the Gulf of Mannar.

However, the train could not reach the destination, and it was completely washed away to sea, so much so that only the engine of the train was visible in the morning.

“On account of severe stormy conditions, none of the staff at Dhanushkodi or Rameswaram road could go out and ascertain the fate of the train. The staff at Dhanushkodi themselves got marooned as the sea water flooded the entire area including the colony and the yard. The only dry spot of land available was the station building. In the morning at 06.00 hours when there was a lull in the storm, the staff could see nothing but a huge sheet of water spread on the Rameswaram Road side. The fate of the train could only be known on the morning of December 24, 1964 when some of the staff noticed the chimney of the engine projecting out water,” reads the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) report, released in 1967, on the incident.

While the exact number of deaths is not known, the report noted that it is said that there were 100 to 110 passengers on the train and 18 Railway employees, all of whom lost their lives. Some estimates suggest that this number can be as high as 250.

While the old Pamban bridge withstood the Tsunami, it was severely damaged to the level that except for the Scherzer Span, out of 146 spans, 126 spans got washed away. Also two piers of the bridge got washed away.

Sreedharan and fishermen

Before he became famous for the Delhi Metro, India’s legendary engineer, also called Metro Man of India, the restoration of the Pamban Bridge was one of the earliest major works of E. Sreedharan.

“I was having my Christmas holiday at my native place. I got a special message that you are required to report to the chief engineer immediately in Chennai. At that time the railway ministry took the stance that we will not restore the bridge because the restoration will be such a big task and expensive. Also there was already a proposal for a road construction. But the MPs from North India, who had great attachment to Rameshwaram, insisted that the bridge should be restored and six month time was given. The general manager set the timeline of three months. But I was able to restore the bridge in just 46 days,” said Sreedharan in an interview to a webportal in 2021.

However, the success of Sreedharan in restoring the bridge in such a short time lies in the efforts made by the fishermen. When Sreedharan and Railways officials were charting out a plan to bring girders from across the country to re-build the bridge, one day a fisherman informed him that he saw a girder lying around 2-km far from the site. This was a major breakthrough and a big operation was carried out to retrieve all the girders from the bottom of the sea.

Later, all 126 girders were recovered and the bridge was restored within 46 days.

The new bridge

The old bridge played an important role in trade and pilgrimage for over a century. Due to corrosion, high maintenance and operational challenges, the decision to construct a new Pamban bridge was taken and the foundation stone for the new bridge was laid in 2019.

The new 2.08 kilometers long structure stands three metres higher than the old Pamban Bridge. It allows the smaller ships to pass beneath without lifting the span. According to the Ministry of Railways, the bridge has been constructed with 99 spans of 18.3 meters each, with a 72.5 meter vertical lift span at its centre that can be raised up to 17 meters to accommodate larger vessels when needed.

The bridge has been designed with dual railway tracks and built with 333 piles and 101 pile caps, which will allow the heavy freight trains as well as advanced semi-high speed trains like Vande Bharat to traverse it.