Construction of India ‘s tallest railway pier bridge in Manipur as part of the 111 km Jiribam-Imphal
railway the project will be completed ahead of its planned March 2022 target, said the chairman of
the railway board VK Yadav On Saturday.
The 555-meter long bridge is one of the 148 bridges along the route which also has 47 tunnels through steep hills to connect the capital of Manipur with the broad gauge network of the country.
“We would like to complete the tallest bridge before the tunnels,” Chairman Railway Board VK Yadav told reporters at Marangching area under Noney district in Manipur. “We would like to complete (it) before March 2022 which is the outer limit.”
In Manipur on Saturday, Yadav, accompanied by General Manager Sanjive Roy of Northeast Frontier
Railways (NFR) and other senior officials of the Railways and Building Companies inaugurated
2,265-km long tunnels on the Jiribam-Imphal line on the hilly terrain of Marangching village
in Noney district, about 65 km west of Imphal.
The pier railway bridge near the Noney district headquarters is also one of the world’s tallest railway bridges with a height of 141 meters. The total estimated cost of the railway bridge is Rs 280 crores.
The Railway Board Chairman said most of the tunnels in the project have been completed except the longest one. The Tupul-Imphal railway tunnel on the Jiribam-Imphal line which was taken up as a national project since 2008, is one of India’s longest rail tunnels at 10.28 km.
“The tunnel is the most critical. It is going to take time because it is a long tunnel. But we’re making our effort to complete the entire railway project in Manipur before December 2021,” he promised.
