India's longest rail bridge

Scenic Kerala backwaters can now boast of an engineering marvel—the longest rail bridge in the country at 4.62 km. The bridge is part of an 8.6-km railway line project, connecting Idapalli to Vallarpadam in Kochi, where the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) has been constructed by the shipping ministry. Constructed by the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) at a cost of Rs 200 crore, it was built in record 28 months. The rail link between Idapalli station and ICTT has been established in strict consonance with green technology norms. The alignment cuts through densely populated habitations and backwaters. “We used minimum cement to reduce the greenhouse effect,” said a rail official. Land acquisition being a sensitive issue in Kerala, RVNL took an elevated route — 40m-long girder was erected at a curve of 2.5 degrees — to lessen land use in populated areas and go across the backwaters. “This led to the conceptualization of a 4.62-km-long elevated structure,” RVNL MD Satish Agnihotri said. The project, which will serve as the first SEZ port in the country, will eliminate transshipment of goods from Colombo port to Indian ports. Mega mother ships and Panamax vessels can directly reach Vallarpadam. It will also save the cost of transportation by $300 per container, making export and import cheaper.