According to NCR, the bridge number 131 has been upgraded using Pre-stressed Concrete (PSC) Girder Slabs. (Image: North Central Railway)
Indian Railways latest update: The Ministry of Railways has renovated a 73-year-old bridge in Uttar Pradesh, significantly increasing speed limits for mail, express and passenger trains. The new bridge structure can now handle much heavier freight traffic. Built in 1953, the bridge is located in the Chunar-Chopan section of the Prayagraj Division.
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The 100-km-long Chunar-Chopan railway section falls under the administrative control of North Central Railway (NCR). The section serves as an important link for transporting coal from Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) in Singrauli to various power plants across North India.
According to NCR, the bridge number 131 has been upgraded using Pre-stressed Concrete (PSC) Girder Slabs. The original bridge was designed based on Broad Gauge Main Line (BGML) loading standards, a benchmark adopted by Indian Railways back in 1926. Due to its aging structure, it was operating under a strict speed restriction of only 30 kmph for Revised Broad Gauge loads.
However, to meet modern requirements, the bridge has been redesigned according to Revised Broad Gauge (RBG) Loading-1976 standards. This specific axle load standard, defined in the IRS Bridge Rules, is designed to handle significantly heavier train loads and serves as the current metric for calculating bridge capacity, it said.
The renovation involved replacing the old structure with modern engineering. Old configuration had 5 Spans (4 X 9.15 meter + 1 X 18.3 meter) while the renovated new Configuration has 6 spans of Pre-stressed Concrete Slabs (4 X 9.15 meter + 2 X 8.67 meter). Now, the newly installed PSC slabs require much less maintenance compared to old steel girders and the new technology ensures a more durable and secure structure for future rail requirements, the NCR said.
