Chenab Bridge

Bachelor Of Technology
In
Civil Engineering
Submitted by
Rahul Patel
Naichal Desai
Kartik Sharma

Indus Institute of Technology and Engineering

(IITE)
E-mail id : [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Date of Submission : 16/10/2019
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Abstract
Introduction
Description of the Chenab Bridge
Design basis notes for the Chenab Bridge
Design of the bridge
Construction method
Conclusions
References
 Acknowledgments
We take the opportunity to express our gratitude to
all the concerned people who have directly or
indirectly contributed towards completion of this
case study. I extend my sincere gratitude towards
Indus University for providing the opportunity and
resources to work on this case study.

We are extremely grateful to Mr.Shantamallappa

faculty of Civil Engineering , whose insight
encouraged me to go beyond the scope of the case
study and this broadened me learning on this case
study.

We also want to show our gratitude to whose insight

helped us to complete this case study.
Name of the students
Rahul Patel
Naichal Desai
Kartik Sharma
 Abstract
Indian Railways has undertaken the mega-project of
construction of a new railway line in the State of
Jammu and Kasmir. The project includes a large
number of tunnels and bridges which are to be
implemented in highly rugged and mountainous
terrain. The alignment crosses a deep gorge of the
Chenab River, which necessitates construction of a
longspan railway bridge. The main feature of the
Chenab Bridge is its 467 metres long steel arch
main span located about 320 metres above the
surface of the river. The paper describes mainly the
conceptual design, but partly also the structural
design of this bridge. In the design work both
national Indian codes as well as several
international codes had to be followed
considering that the design standards match the
construction standards.
Keywords: arch; bridge; long-span; railway; steel
 Introduction

Indian Railways has undertaken the mega-project

of construction of a new railway line in the State
of Jammu and Kashmir, from Udhampur to
Baramulla. The project has been declared as a
national project. The alignment is a culmination of
a large number of tunnels and bridges, which are
to be implemented in highly rugged and
mountainous terrain, with the difficult Himalayan
geology. The alignment crosses a deep gorge of
the Chenab River, which necessitates construction
of a long-span bridge. The Chenab Bridge was
scheduled to be completed in December 2009. In
September 2008 it was announced that the Chenab
Bridge Project was interrupted despite the
completion of substructure of the approach
viaduct.

As of mid-2009, it was decided that the original

route is back on track and the bridge will be built
as originally planned. However, it was concluded
that the main span of the bridge will be modified
to be 467 meters. The current paper describes
mainly the conceptual and structural design of the
Chenab Bridge. In the design work the National
Codes of India, Indian Railway Standards (IRS),
Indian Road Congress (IRC)
recommendations and Indian Standards (IS) have
been supplemented with International standards
like British Standards (BS), standards of the
International Union of Railways (UIC) and some
national codes.

Figure 1 . Location of the Chenab Bridge in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir in India,
about 600 km north of New Delhi
 Description of the Chenab
Bridge
The Chenab Bridge is a steel railway arch bridge
with a total length of 1315 metres. It is formed by
an approach bridge, which is 530 metres long, and
an arch bridge, which is 785 metres long. A 467
metres long steel arch (one of the longest in the
world) supports the steel deck. The deck, which is
13,5 meters wide and has two tracks running on it,
is located about 320 metres above the surface of
the river flowing in the valley. WSP Finland has
the main responsibility for the planning of the
bridge. The design of the steel arch is done by
subconsultant Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner of
Germany. An illustration of the completed bridge
and a design model are shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3,
respectively. The construction of the approach
bridge has now restarted and concrete piers
already cast are shown in Fig
 Figure. 2 . The Chenab Bridge when completed

Figure .3 .View of the Chenab Bridge design model

 Design basis notes for the
Chenab Bridge

The bridge Owner set strict rules and standards that

had to be obeyed in the design. Indian Railway
Standards (IRS Standards) had to be used wherever
applicable. British Standards, UIC Standards and
other international standards including Eurocodes
could be used as a supplement. The design speed of
the railway was set to be 100 km/h and the design
life had to be 120 years. Fatigue assessment shall be
done as per BS: 5400 Part –10. Wind loads will be
derived using physical topographic models of the
site and tests in a wind tunnel laboratory. Even full-
scale models are required. The test results of the
bridge are used to extract equivalent static wind
loads, which are used in the final structural analysis.
These equivalent static wind loads take into
account wind-induced dynamic actions of the
bridge, as well as size reduction effects related to
the patchy distribution of wind pressure peaks. The
service wind load corresponds to a maximum wind
pressure of 1500 Pa. The wind load is governing the
arch design.
In addition to all conventional railway bridge loads,
this bridge has to sustain special blast loads
specified by the Client, and to provide sufficient
redundancy in case of local failure. The most
important design criteria in the steel deck is fatigue.

.
 Design of the bridge

The concept of steel arch was clearly the preference

of the Client (Fig. 4). In the tender phase several
numbers of alternatives of the steel arch and also a
concept of a cable-stayed bridge were studied. In
the railway line another steel arch bridge, the
Anjikhad Bridge, will be built. It follows a similar
concept at a smaller scale.

Figure .4. Side elevation of the Chenab Bridge

The arch and arch piers of the Chenab Bridge will
be made from large steel trusses. In order to provide
minimum wind resistance, it was initially intended
to use pipe sections for all members of the arch. In
order to facilitate production on site, the chords of
the trusses and the diagonals were later modified to
become sealed steel boxes (Fig. 5). All other
members including the secondary members were
kept circular, which greatly
simplifies the connection details. The chord
members will be filled with concrete in order to
assist in controlling wind-induced forces on the
bridge by improving the damping ratio and
stiffness. The concrete fill also enhances the overall
robustness. In the arch portion, the superstructure is
supported on steel piers with a height of up to 120
metres. Expansion joints are provided at the end
abutments and at Pier S70 that separates the main
arch span from the approach bridge. At this location
there is also a change in the deck height. The point
of longitudinal fixity of
the arch bridge deck is at the arch centre, where the
forces are transmitted most efficiently and the
displacements at either end are minimal. The
superstructure is a plate girder with a closed deck,
where rails are connected. The closed deck keeps
the rainwater out and provides mostly dry
environment below the deck. Wind noses of the
deck are provided in main arch portion.

Figure .5. Details of the steel arch.

Figure .6. Present state of the construction work of the Chenab

Bridge.
 Construction method
The steel structures of the bridge will be
manufactured in workshops built in the mountains.
The workshops have been moved to the building
site, because there is no proper road network in the
challenging terrain. The longest building parts that
can be delivered to the site are 12 meters in length.
Therefore, four workshops have been built in the
mountains. Workshops and paint shops built next to
them are located on both sides of the valley.

All steel materials, except for the smallest rolled

profiles, are delivered to the mountains as steel
boards. The insufficient infrastructure of the area
causes additional problems. There is no electricity
and the water of the river is not suitable for
manufacturing concrete. All electricity must be
produced at the site and the water is delivered from
further away in the mountains.

The job is also challenging, because the track has

curvature in the approach bridge. In this section, the
construction stage bearings have been designed in
such a way that it is possible to launch the steel deck
in the curvature portion as well.
The bridge will consist of about 25000 tonnes of
steel structures, the main portion of which will be
used for the arch bridge section. First, a cable crane
will be built over the valley for constructing the
steel structures. The cable crane will move between
pylon towers built on both sides of the valley. The
crane can deliver a maximum amount of 40 tonnes
of steel parts. For example, the over 100 meters
long steel columns with bolted couplings will be
constructed using this technique.

When the long steel columns are ready, the steel

deck will be pushed on top of the columns. After
this, a derrick crane, which is capable of lifting
about 100 tonnes, will be placed on top of the deck.
The derrick will crane the arch segments from deck
level to the erection front of the arch as shown in
Fig.7. Deck erection will proceed simultaneously
with the erection of the arch. Both the arch and the
deck cantilever freely by up to 48 metres. When the
next arch pier location is reached, temporary cables
will be installed to support the arch, and the new
arch pier will be constructed on the free end. The
superstructure can then be supported by the arch
pier and so forth until the last arch pier is reached.
The very last span of the arch and the elements of
the key segment will again be delivered by the cable
crane; closure of the superstructure is done by
means of derrick erection (Fig. 7).

The deck of the bridge will be welded in the

workshop upside down in about 8 meters long
sections, because the welding points in the final
structure are mainly located under the bridge. When
the job is completed, the sections are turned around
and delivered to the next stage of the process.
Figure 7 Typical arch erection by derrick crane.and Erection of last span and key segment by
cable crane.
 Conclusions

The design of the main arch requires consideration

of a number of additional parameters, such as
fatigue, global stability, second order effects,
composite action, etc. It also requires that such a
bridge is designed to achieve a consistent level of
reliability for all load cases, and that the design
standards match the construction standards. That
has been considered in the current design work as
well.

The Chenab Bridge will be the biggest / the

longest-span / the highest railway arch bridge ever
built in the world. Its design offered great
challenges to the design team, but the challenges
will be even more demanding before the gap
between the main arch halves is filled.
 References

▪ https://structurae.net/en/structures/chenab-
river-bridge.com

▪ http://www.highestbridges.com/wiki/index.ph
p?title=Chenab_River_Railway_Bridge.com

▪ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_Bridge.c
om

▪ ..\Downloads\10.1016_j.proeng.2012.07.078.p
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