The 4.62 km Vallarpadam bridge will beat the current record for the longest rail bridge held by the Nehru Setu Bridge near Dehri on river Sone in Bihar by more than a kilometre.

The bridge that snakes its way over the lake is part of the nearly nine KM railway link being built for Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT).

The total cost of the Rail link for the Vallarpadam project, including the railway station and goods yard at Edappally near here was Rs 245.67 crore, but had shot up to Rs 297.10 crore due to escalation of steel prices, he said.

RVNL is a public sector unit under the Railway Ministry, created to implement large projects like the present one, he said. Just as ambitious a project as the railway bridge is the Vallarpadam transhipment terminal project that is expected to handle three million TEUs of containerised cargo a year once commissioned.

The terminal will be run by India Gateway Terminal Ltd., part of Dubai Ports World. A total of Rs 3,000 crore, spread over two phases, will be invested in the project, which will have a capacity to receive vessels upto 8,000 TEUs. 

News Published Under:   Malayala Manorama