Bullet train: Railway shares 'then & now' pics of three bridges built last month in Gujarat

As of now, four bridges have been constructed on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, popularly called the bullet train project.

The railways has shared an update on the country's most ambitious project--the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, popularly called the bullet train project--as it tweeted ‘before and after’ images of rivers in Gujarat's Navsari where three bridges have been built in the last month. All the three bridges have been constructed between Bilimora and Surat high-speed railway (HSR) station, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) said in a statement.

A brige over Ambika river in Gujarat's Navsari. (Railway)

“Expediting advancements on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project,” said the railway while sharing the images.

The first collage of images shows a bridge over Ambika river. The pictures depict the construction of the bridge in nearly six months, from early January to late June. According to NHSRCL, it is 200 metres long. There were several challenges in building the bridge like: Steep slope of the river bank, and underground piling through rocky strata.

The second set of images, the first of which was taken in late January, shows the bridge over Purna river. With a length of 360 metres, it is the longest of the three bridges. “Foundation work was challenging as the water level in the river was rising 5-6 m (fortnightly) during high tides,” informed the NHSRCL.

Lastly, a bridge, whose length is 240 metres, is seen over Mindhola river. Continuous monitoring of high and low tides from the Arabian Sea was done during its construction.

As per NHSRCL, four out of the 24 bridges have been built in the past six months. There are 24 river bridges on the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor, out of which 20 are in Gujarat and four are in Maharashtra. The longest river bridge in Gujarat is 1.2 kilometre long and is being constructed on the Narmada river, while the longest bridge in Maharashtra is a 2.28 kilometre one being built on the Vaitarna river.

Eight HSR stations in Gujarat, namely Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati, are under various stages of construction. The first phase of the bullet train project is expected to be launched in 2026.