New Delhi:
The Chenab railway bridge is a construction marvel. Built at a height of 359m over the Chenab River, it is the tallest railway bridge arch in the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jammu and Kashmir and inaugurated the Chenab Bridge by waving the flag and later hailed that these projects are ‘transformative’. Alongside the Chenab bridge, the PM had also inaugurated the Anji bridge, while laying foundations to projects worth Rs 46,000 crore.
The Chenab Bridge is a marvel like no other. The bridge was built for 18 years and paved the way for Jammu and Kashmir’s all-weather connectivity to the rest of the Indian rail system. The inauguration of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) has helped India realise a century-old dream of connectivity. From architects to engineers, there have been many hands behind building this marvel. One among them is an IISC professor Madhavi Latha.
Madhavi Latha’s role in building the Chenab Bridge
IISC professor Madhavi worked for 17 years from 2005 onwards to help the Chenab project take its shape. In her recently published journal, the professor revealed how she and her team worked on the project. She revealed the major challenges being the “height and dimensions of the bridge, steepness of slopes, harsh terrain, heterogeneity and anisotropy of the rock mass with closely spaced joints, presence of the river below the bridge, adverse climatic conditions, very high wind speeds and seismicity of the location.”
She highlighted how the approach of “design as you go” made them conquer the improbable-looking challenge. She highlighted this strategy paved the way for the construction of the project and had she taken the ‘rigid’ approach, the project could have halted. “This ‘design as you go’ approach helped in resolving various challenges that would have halted the construction if a rigid design was implemented for the project,” she wrote in her journal.
During the construction phase, the engineering team encountered geological challenges, including fractured rock formations, concealed cavities, and variations in rock properties that were not evident in initial surveys. These unexpected conditions necessitated real-time adaptations to the construction approach.
To address these challenges, the team conducted complex calculations and implemented design modifications to accommodate the actual rock mass conditions encountered. Dr. Latha played a pivotal role by providing expertise on the design and strategic placement of rock anchors, which are essential for enhancing structural stability in such variable geological settings. Rock anchors are commonly used in construction to counteract uplift forces and stabilize structures against lateral loads, especially in areas with fractured or unstable rock masses.
Incorporating these real-time innovations and expert contributions was crucial to maintaining the integrity and safety of the construction project amidst the complex and evolving geological conditions.
Who is Madhavi Latha?
Dr. G. Madhavi Latha is a distinguished civil engineer and academic, currently serving as a Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) Professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. She also holds the position of Chair at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at IISc.
Academic Background:
Latha earned her undergraduate degree from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University with a B.Tech in Civil Engineering (1992)
She pursued her master’s in M.Tech in Geotechnical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, where she was awarded a gold medal for her outstanding academic performance.
Latha completed her doctoral studies in 2000 (PhD in Geotechnical Engineering) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, focusing on advanced topics in geotechnical engineering.
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