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| 25-03-2026 Prayagraj |
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| Another effort to ensure smooth and flexible operations: 73-Year-Old Bridge No. 131 Renovated on Chunar-Chopan Section | |
North Central Railway (NCR) has achieved a significant breakthrough in modernizing infrastructure and enhancing safety. The 73-year-old Steel Girder Bridge No. 131, located in the Chunar-Chopan section of the Prayagraj Division, has been successfully renovated. Originally built in 1953, the bridge has now been upgraded using state-of-the-art Pre-stressed Concrete (PSC) Girder Slabs.
The original bridge was designed based on Broad Gauge Main Line (BGML) loading standards, a benchmark adopted by Indian Railways back in 1926. Due to its aging structure, it was operating under a strict speed restriction of only 30 km/h for Revised Broad Gauge loads.
To meet modern requirements, the bridge was redesigned according to Revised Broad Gauge (RBG) Loading-1976 standards. This specific axle load standard, defined in the IRS Bridge Rules, is designed to handle significantly heavier train loads and serves as the current metric for calculating bridge capacity.
The 100-kilometer Chunar-Chopan railway section is a vital artery for freight transport in India. It serves as a critical link for transporting coal from Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) in Singrauli to various power plants across North India. This section is quite congested, often operating well beyond its capacity, thus making infrastructure strengthening a top priority.
This renovation involved replacing the old structure with modern engineering. Old configuration had 5 Spans (4 X 9.15 meter + 1 X 18.3 meter) while the renovated new Configuration has 6 spans of Pre-stressed Concrete Slabs (4 X 9.15 meter + 2 X 8.67 meter)
The challenging regirdering work was completed in record time through a phased approach. The first span was laid on February 27, 2026 and the final fifth and sixth spans were successfully laid on March 08, 2026.
After the renovation the bridge can now seamlessly handle much heavier freight trains. With this, there will be significant increase in speed limits for mail express and passenger trains, leading to reduced travel time. Now the newly installed PSC slabs require much less maintenance compared to old steel girders and the new technology ensures a more durable and secure structure for future rail requirements.
General Manager Shri Naresh Pal Singh lauded the efforts of North Central Railway Bridge Line and Engineering teams for completing this complex task safely and within the deadline. The project was executed under the guidance of Divisional Railway Manager Shri Rajneesh Agarwal, led by Deputy Chief Bridge Engineer Shri I.P.S. Yadav and his team, with full cooperation from the division's engineering and operations departments.
(Dr. Amit Malaviya)
Sr. PRO