4 months ago
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Work of dismantling the 225-foot-long Scherzer span of aged Pamban obstruction span volition statesman successful February.
The cardinal span of the British-era span implicit Pamban oversea transmission connecting Pamban railway presumption successful Rameswaram land with the mainland was past opened connected January 20.
A yacht, an Indian Coast Guard vessel and a fewer sportfishing vessels crossed the transmission arsenic the worn-out treble cantilever trusses of 112.5 feet each were marginally opened to let them passage.
‘Difficulty successful lifting’
“As the alloy operation has suffered corrosion for implicit 111 years successful the world’s 2nd astir corrosive region, it has mislaid each its stability. Besides, the periodical attraction of the span has been stopped arsenic the caller Pamban obstruction span came up,” a railway technologist said.
The 2 cantilever trusses were designed to assistance to arsenic overmuch arsenic 81 degrees to make 200 feet of wide mode for navigating ships. “However, connected Tuesday it could beryllium lifted to lone up to 15 degrees, though 25 workers slogged for astir 1 hour,” helium added.
This was due to the fact that the cogwheel statement of the Scherzer span was highly-corroded. The aged span that was commissioned successful 1914 survived for 108 years. Train question connected the span was permanently stopped successful December 2022 aft it became unsafe for obstruction operation.
Meanwhile, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited constructed the caller obstruction span parallel to the aged one. The RVNL has present fixed a contractor to dismantle the Scherzer span of the 2.05-km-long Pamban obstruction bridge.
After the archetypal tender failed to pull effect from immoderate experienced contractor, the RVNL floated a 2nd tender.
“The contractor would deploy a mobile crane and commencement cutting the robust structure. Since, the treble cantilever trusses person to beryllium near successful the horizontal presumption to alteration cutting, nary vessel question tin beryllium allowed till the enactment is completed,” the technologist explained.
The RVNL has communicated to Tamil Nadu Maritime Board that navigation of each ships successful the Pamban oversea transmission would stay suspended till May 31.
The earlier connection of the Southern Railway to region the rivets holding the alloy operation to reconstruct Scherzer span for show adjacent Mandapam railway presumption arsenic a practice operation has been shelved arsenic the corroded robust could not beryllium salvaged successful its archetypal shape.
The contractor would bring the scrap, including alloy and concrete, weighing astir 1,000 tonnes, to Mandapam railway gait for dumping.
