The Bridge, The Mountain, and Her: Professor Latha’s 17-Year Journey
The Bridge, The Mountain, and Her: Professor Latha’s 17-Year Journey
Jammu & Kashmir | June 7, 2025
India has built the world’s highest railway arch bridge over the Chenab River in Jammu & Kashmir. The bridge is 359 metres high, which is 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. It will be opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
This bridge is part of a railway line between Udhampur and Baramulla, which will allow trains like Vande Bharat to run between Jammu and Srinagar. This railway route has been a dream for over 100 years.
The bridge is 1,315 metres long and made with 28,660 tonnes of steel—almost four times the steel used in the Eiffel Tower. It also used 66,000 cubic metres of concrete and 26 km of roads were built just to bring machines and workers to the site.
The bridge took 17 years to complete. It was finished in 2022, but many tests were done afterward to make sure everything was safe.
Professor Gali Madhavi Latha, an expert from IISc Bangalore, worked on this project from the beginning. She first visited the site in 2005 by boat and then walked up steep mountains to study the land.
She said the mountain rocks kept giving them surprises. The team had to change their plans many times because they found weak rocks, hidden holes, and cracks that could cause landslides.
To make the mountains safe, the team put cement and steel rods inside the rocks. These changes were not written in any book—they had to come up with new ideas on the spot.
The bridge is built to last 120 years and can survive earthquakes. Even if one part of the bridge gets damaged, trains can still move slowly at 30 km/h.
Professor Latha said, “It was a big challenge, but I’m proud to be part of this amazing project.”
Now, the Chenab bridge stands as a great example of India’s hard work and smart engineering.
