India's first sea bridge

Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge which connects the town of Mandapam in mainland India with Pamban Island, and Rameswaram. Opened on 24 February 1914, it was India's first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge in India until the opening of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in 2010. The rail bridge is, for the most part, a conventional bridge resting on concrete piers, but has a double-leaf bascule section midway, which can be raised to let ships and barges pass through. Until 1988, the Pamban bridge was the only surface transport that connected Tamil Nadu's island of Rameswaram to the mainland. In December 2018, the bascule of this bridge was damaged, which suspended transportation on the bridge for 3 months. Rail movement was again restored on 27 February 2019.

In 1988, a road bridge was also constructed parallel to the rail bridge. This road bridge is also known as Indira Gandhi Road Bridge. The Pamban Road Bridge connects the National Highway (NH 49) with the Rameswaram island. It stands on the Palk Strait and between the shores of Mandapam (a place on the Indian mainland) and Pamban (one of the fishermen town in Rameswaram island). It was inaugurated by former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 2 October 1988. This 2.345 km long bridge took close to 14 years to be completed.

LOCATION- The Pamban railway bridge spans a 2.06 km wide strait between the Indian mainland and Rameswaram Island. The mainland end of the bridge is located at 9°16′56.70″N 79°11′20.12″E. The bridge is located in the world's second most corrosive environment after Florida, making its maintenance a challenging job. The location is also a cyclone-prone high wind velocity zone.

DESIGN- The railway bridge is located 12.5 metres (41 ft) above sea level and is 6,776 ft (2,065 m) long. The bridge consists of 143 piers and has a double-leaf bascule section with a Scherzer rolling type lift span that can be raised to let ships pass. Each half of the lifting span weighs 415 tonnes (457 tons). The two leaves of the bridge are opened manually using levers.

PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION- Plans for a bridge to connect to mainland was suggested in 1870 as the British Administration sought ways to increase trade with Ceylon. The construction began in August 1911 and was opened on 24 February 1914.The adjacent road bridge was opened in 1988. As of 5 December 2018, the bridge was closed due to a crack in the bridge and the maintenance work is going on. The Indian Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced that a new railway bridge will be constructed near the old Pamban Bridge at a cost of Rs. 250 crores. This new dual track bridge is planned to be constructed in automotive mode, allowing two ships to pass this bridge at the same time.

MAINTENANCE- The bridge was damaged during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and required repair work.Strengthening work was carried out on the bridge under the supervision of E. Sreedharan in 2009 to enable it to carry goods trains.On 13 January 2013, the bridge required repair work to the piers after suffering minor damage from a naval barge. In 2016, the Ministry of Railways sanctioned ₹25 crore (US$3.5 million) to replace the existing 65.23 metres (214.0 ft) long rolling type span with a 66 metres (217 ft) long single truss span which could be opened automatically. All train movement was stopped from 5 December 2018 when a fissure was noticed on 4 December 2018.

Rail movement on the bridge is restored as of 10 March 2019.

RAILWAY- The railway bridge carried metre gauge trains connecting Mandapam on mainland India to Pamban. Indian Railways upgraded the bridge to carry broad gauge trains and the work was completed on 12 August 2007.From Pamban, the railway line bifurcated, one line towards Rameshwaram about 6.25 miles (10.06 km) up and another branch line of 15 miles (24 km) terminating at Dhanushkodi.The Boat mail express runs from Chennai Egmore to Rameswaram. The train ran up to Dhanushkodi until 1964 when the metre-gauge branch line from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was destroyed during the 1964 Dhanushkodi cyclone.

ROAD- The construction works of Pamban Road bridge was commenced on 17 November 1974 by the Indian Highway department and contracted to M/S Neelakandan Brothers Engs, Madras. After the 1978 cyclone the work was carried out slowly, and few years later the contract was given to the New Gammon India Ltd. The Government sanctioned 16.6514 crore INR by 1986. The work was completed on 1988.

Imagine a railway bridge over the sea which 'opens up' to allow ferry and boat movement! And, what makes this bridge even more wonderful is the fact that it was built 100 years ago! Till 1988, the Pamban bridge was the only surface transport that connected Tamil Nadu's island of Rameswaram to the mainland. Said to be an engineering marvel, the Pamban bridge was once India's longest sea bridge, till the Bandra-Worli sea link came up in 2009. We take a look at some breathtaking images of the Pamban bridge and awe-inspiring facts.

The 2.057 km long bridge, also known as Bridge No.346 in Indian Railway reference, consists of over 140 spans. The amazing feature of a double-leaf section that can be raised to allow movement of ships and boats was designed by German engineer Scherzer. The 114th span, midway along the bridge, is this called the Scherzer span.

Interestingly, the Scherzer span is now being replaced by a modern one to improve the life of the bridge. Southern Railways has said that the new span would be operated with the help of a remote/single button by the staff in Pamban.

It is an engineering marvel that evokes awe! Few can forget a train journey on the Pamban bridge, connecting Rameswaram island to the mainland.

The construction of the Pamban bridge began in 1911 and it was opened in 1914. It was only in 2007 that the railway line on Pamban bridge was converted from metre-gauge to broad-gauge.

With 143 piers, spanning 2 km between the mainland and the island, it is the second longest sea bridge in India after the 2.3-km Bandra-Worli sea link on Mumbai's western coast.

The Pamban bridge, commissioned in 1914, will turn 100 and officials of the Southern Railway's Madurai division have lined up several programmes spread over a month to mark the occasion.

Efforts were taken for the construction of the bridge as early as the 1870s with the British administration planning to expand trade connectivity to Sri Lanka, then Ceylon. However, the construction of the rail bridge commenced only by 1911 and it was commissioned on February 24, 1914.

According to Indian Railways, the famed Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram and the Pamban bridge draw scores of foreign tourists and inland pilgrims to the island.

Even as Indian Railways' Pamban bridge continues to be an engineering marvel, yet another railway bridge that is likely to be a stunning site is coming up in Jammu and Kashmir. Said to be world's highest railway bridge, the Chenab bridge, is set to be completed by 2019. The bridge will be taller than Paris' famous Eiffel Tower and is being built to withstand earthquakes.

10 things to know about India's first-ever sea bridge-

1. Built in 1914 as India's first-ever sea bridge, the 6,700-foot structure is in itself an engineering and historical marvel that has withstood several of nature's furies — from storms to cyclones.

2. The bridge initially ran up to the southeastern tip of the island, Dhanushkodi, now a ghost town. After a cyclone hit it in 1964, Dhanushkodi was washed away by the sea and is now a mere skeleton of the town it once was. Remnants of its railway lines, church, and the devastated dwellings of people can still be seen, though in very poor shape.

3. From the tip of the region, cell phone networks welcome one to Sri Lanka.

4. Visible from here is Adam's Bridge — a former land link between India and Sri Lanka, now undersea — that is also known as Rama Setu, the bridge believed to have been built by Lord Rama's army to rescue Sita from Lanka.

5. With sea levels rising around the world due to global warming, the region is constantly threatened by nature. Surrounded by sea and sand, the town cannot grow any crops and has no provision for electricity due to the wind velocity in the area. It is only the solar panels, an initiative of late President APJ Abdul Kalam who hailed from Rameswaram, that light up the shacks of the few residents.

6. With Rameswaram considered one of the holiest places for Hindus, a majority of visitors make temples the focus of their travels. Aiming to showcase the rich cultural and historical heritage of the island, the location has opened up for some incredible architecture and engineering like Pamban Bridge.

7. The region also celebrates its much-beloved son Abdul Kalam. His two-storeyed house on Mosque Street is filled with thousands of his books and is always bustling with people.

8. A Rs 15-crore memorial to India's 'Missile Man', inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27, has also grown rather quickly as a tourist attraction. The memorial houses a copy of the last speech Kalam delivered at IIM Shillong on July 27, 2015, a number of pictures of his meetings with world leaders, and a host of other objects.

9. As an island that is yearning to receive a boost to its tourism, even a bottle of water bought from a shack in Dhanushkodi goes towards supporting a family.

10. The best time to visit is between October and March as the temperatures drop and stay between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, making travel easier.