AHMEDABAD: The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has successfully erected the first steel bridge, measuring 70 meters in length, over National Highway-53 in Surat in Gujarat, for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor.
This bridge is the first among the 28 steel bridges planned for the MAHSR corridor.
The total estimated steel usage for these bridges is around 70,000 metric tons, with bridge spans ranging from 60 meters as “simply supported” to 130+100 meters as “continuous span.”
India is combining Japanese expertise with its own technical and material capabilities in line with the Make-in-India vision. Steel bridges are well-suited for crossing highways, expressways, and railway lines, especially for high-speed trains running between 100 and 160km/h. Remarkably, this is the first time a steel bridge has been fabricated to support a Shinkansen Bullet train operating at speeds of 320km/h.
The steel structure, consisting of nearly 700 pieces and 673 metric tonnes, was fabricated at a workshop in Hapur district in Uttar Pradesh, approximately 1200 km away from the bridge site. On-site assembly involved placing the steel bridge, which stood 12 to 14 meters tall, on staging above 10- to 12-meter-high piers. The assembly, including a 200 metric ton launching nose, was carefully maneuvered to its intended span using a specially designed pulling arrangement, necessitating a complete traffic block on National Highway.
Each batch of steel underwent rigorous testing, including Ultrasonic Testing (UT) at the manufacturer’s facilities. The fabrication process involved precision cutting, drilling, welding, and painting according to design drawings crafted by Japanese engineers. Certified welders and supervisors oversaw the welding process, with Japanese International Welding Experts (IWE) stationed at each workshop for monitoring. The fabricated structure underwent a meticulous check assembly process and received a sophisticated five-layered painting, conforming to Japan Road Association’s C-5 Painting system as outlined in the “Handbook for Corrosion Protection of Steel Road Bridges.”
This bridge is the first among the 28 steel bridges planned for the MAHSR corridor.
The total estimated steel usage for these bridges is around 70,000 metric tons, with bridge spans ranging from 60 meters as “simply supported” to 130+100 meters as “continuous span.”
India is combining Japanese expertise with its own technical and material capabilities in line with the Make-in-India vision. Steel bridges are well-suited for crossing highways, expressways, and railway lines, especially for high-speed trains running between 100 and 160km/h. Remarkably, this is the first time a steel bridge has been fabricated to support a Shinkansen Bullet train operating at speeds of 320km/h.
The steel structure, consisting of nearly 700 pieces and 673 metric tonnes, was fabricated at a workshop in Hapur district in Uttar Pradesh, approximately 1200 km away from the bridge site. On-site assembly involved placing the steel bridge, which stood 12 to 14 meters tall, on staging above 10- to 12-meter-high piers. The assembly, including a 200 metric ton launching nose, was carefully maneuvered to its intended span using a specially designed pulling arrangement, necessitating a complete traffic block on National Highway.
Each batch of steel underwent rigorous testing, including Ultrasonic Testing (UT) at the manufacturer’s facilities. The fabrication process involved precision cutting, drilling, welding, and painting according to design drawings crafted by Japanese engineers. Certified welders and supervisors oversaw the welding process, with Japanese International Welding Experts (IWE) stationed at each workshop for monitoring. The fabricated structure underwent a meticulous check assembly process and received a sophisticated five-layered painting, conforming to Japan Road Association’s C-5 Painting system as outlined in the “Handbook for Corrosion Protection of Steel Road Bridges.”
