Metro-standard steel bridge installed for bullet train near Bharuch

A 100-metre ‘Make in India’ steel bridge was launched over the DFC at Bharuch, demonstrating modern metro-grade infrastructure and indigenous engineering, marking a significant milestone in India’s bullet train project.

India’s first bullet train project, the 508-kilometre Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, has reached a significant milestone with the successful deployment of a 100-metre steel bridge across the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) near Bharuch, Gujarat. This ‘Make in India’ bridge was built in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and weighs around 1,400 tonnes. It stood 14.6 metres tall and 14.3 metres wide, was built 18 metres above ground level, and launched using two 250-tonne semi-automatic jacks and an 84-metre-long launching snout. The construction was the eighth steel bridge built in Gujarat, out of 17 planned in the state and 28 for the entire bullet train track.

Engineered with precision under the Make in India initiative, the bridge has around 55,300 Tor-Shear High-Strength bolts, is coated with C5-grade corrosion-resistant paint, and is equipped with elastomeric bearings to ensure durability for a 100-year lifespan. The project was done with painstaking preparation to ensure that freight operations on the DFC were not disrupted, with installation taking place during regulated track block periods.

This achievement is part of a larger endeavour to develop high-speed rail infrastructure between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, which has previously built over 300 kilometres of viaduct superstructures employing Full-Span Launching and Span-by-Span construction methods. As part of the project, additional steel bridges ranging in length from 60 to 130 metres are being built across railway lines, highways, and rivers. The line, which combines Japanese high-speed rail technology with Indian engineering and manufacturing expertise, is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to approximately two hours once completed.