Railway Bridges Famous
Railway Bridges Famous
Overview
Indian Railways owns & maintains more than 1,50,000 bridges—about 37,000 are major spans. Among them, a select few are engineering icons, world-record holders or vital strategic links frequently asked in RRB NTPC, Group-D, ALP & JE papers. This capsule covers only those “famous” railway bridges that have repeatedly appeared in previous-shift GK sections.
Key Facts & Figures
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Longest rail bridge in India (total length) | Vembanad Rail Bridge (Kerala) – 4.62 km |
| Longest river bridge on Indian Railways | Bogibeel Bridge (Assam) – 4.94 km |
| Highest rail bridge in India (deck height) | Chenab Bridge (J&K) – 359 m above river bed |
| Deepest bridge foundations in India | Pamban Bridge (Tamil Nadu) – 120 m below sea level |
| First sea-bridge of Indian Railways | Pamban Bridge (1914) |
| First rail-cum-road bridge on Ganga | Rajendra Setu (Bihar) – opened 1959 |
| Longest rail-cum-road bridge in India | Bogibeel Bridge (2018) |
| First prestressed concrete (PSC) railway bridge | Ajani Bridge, Nagpur (1963) |
| First cable-stayed rail bridge in India | Anji Khad Bridge (J&K) – part of USBRL project |
| Longest steel arch rail bridge in India | Chenab Bridge – 467 m main span |
| Bridge with longest approach girders | Vembanad Bridge – 63 spans of 20 m each |
| UNESCO heritage bridge | Pamban Bridge (part of “Mountain Railways of India” buffer zone) |
| Only lift-span bridge still working | Pamban Bridge – 72.5 m Scherzer rolling lift |
| Design speed on Chenab Bridge | 160 km/h (potential), operational 100 km/h |
| Design life of Chenab Bridge | 120 years (blast-proof, seismic Zone-V) |
Important Points
- Vembanad Bridge connects Edappally–Iddly on Ernakulam–Kottayam route (Southern Railway).
- Bogibeel Bridge is India’s first rail-cum-road bridge with fully welded steel trusses & 39 spans of 125 m each.
- Chenab Bridge is 35 m taller than Eiffel Tower; built with ~29,000 MT of steel.
- Pamban Bridge’s center span opens in 10 min to let ships pass; operated manually till 2021, now semi-automatic.
- Anji Khad Bridge replaced the cancelled Anji tunnel; has 96 cable stays in 2 planes.
- Rajendra Setu (Mokama–Simaria) was India’s 1st bridge across Ganga & ended rail ferry service.
- Vivekananda Setu (Kolkata) carries both rail & road, but only road now; rail shifted to 2nd Vivekananda Setu (2019).
- Nehru Setu (Dehri-on-Sone) was longest rail bridge in India (3.05 km) till 2003.
- Jubilee Bridge (Kolkata–Naihati) is a riveted cantilever truss built 1885; now heritage site.
- Godavari Arch Bridge (Rajahmundry) – 2.75 km PSC arch, replaced old truss bridge in 1997.
- Mahatma Gandhi Setu (Patna) is road only; rail-cum-road bridge parallel to it is Digha–Sonpur Rail Bridge (2020).
- USBRL project has 927 bridges; Chenab & Anji Khad are show-piece structures.
- All famous rail bridges are monitored by “Online Bridge Monitoring System” (OBMS) developed by RDSO.
- Static GK: states, rivers & years of commissioning are favourite RRB questions.
Frequently Asked in Exams
- State–bridge–river matching (e.g., Chenab Bridge – J&K – Chenab River).
- Year of commissioning & length (Bogibeel 2018, 4.94 km).
- Highest/longest bridge tag (Chenab highest, Vembanad longest pure rail).
- Unique technology (Scherzer lift span – Pamban; cable-stayed – Anji Khad).
- Rail-cum-road vs rail-only classification.
Practice MCQs
Question:01 Which is the longest railway bridge in India by total length?
A) Pamban Bridge (Tamil Nadu)
B) Vembanad Rail Bridge (Kerala)
C) Bogibeel Bridge (Assam)
D) Godavari Arch Bridge (Andhra Pradesh)
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Vembanad Rail Bridge in Kerala, spanning 4.62 km across Vembanad Lake, is the longest railway bridge in India.
Question:02 Chenab Railway Bridge is located in which Union Territory?
A) Ladakh
B) Jammu & Kashmir
C) Chandigarh
D) Delhi
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The iconic Chenab Railway Bridge, the world’s highest rail bridge, spans the Chenab River in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
Question:03 In which year was India’s first rail-cum-road bridge on Ganga, Rajendra Setu, opened for traffic?
A) 1957
B) 1959
C) 1961
D) 1963
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Rajendra Setu, the first combined rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganga, was inaugurated for traffic in 1959.
Question:04 Which bridge holds the record for the highest deck height (359 m above the river bed) on Indian Railways?
A) Vembanad Rail Bridge
B) Chenab Bridge
C) Pamban Bridge
D) Bogibeel Bridge
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The Chenab Bridge near Reasi in Jammu & Kashmir, with a deck height of 359 m above the Chenab river bed, is the highest railway bridge in India and the world.
Question:05 Bogibeel Bridge carries both rail and road traffic over which river?
A) Ganga
B) Yamuna
C) Brahmaputra
D) Godavari
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge, spans the Brahmaputra River in Assam.
Question:06 The Scherzer rolling lift span is a feature of which Indian rail bridge?
A) Vembanad Rail Bridge
B) Pamban Bridge
C) Bogibeel Bridge
D) Chenab Rail Bridge
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The Pamban Bridge, India’s first sea bridge connecting Rameswaram to mainland Tamil Nadu, incorporates the Scherzer rolling lift span to allow ships to pass beneath it.
Question:07 Anji Khad Bridge, India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge, is part of which project?
A) Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor
B) Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL)
C) Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC)
D) Golden Quadrilateral Rail Upgrade
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The Anji Khad Bridge is a key structure of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, aimed at connecting the Kashmir Valley with the Indian Railways network.
Question:08 Which bridge replaced the old Nehru Setu to become the longest rail bridge in India?
A) Pamban Bridge
B) Vembanad Bridge
C) Bogibeel Bridge
D) Godavari Arch Bridge
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Vembanad Bridge (4.62 km) on the Kochi–Shoranur route in Kerala replaced the old Nehru Setu (3.05 km) as India’s longest rail bridge.
Question:09 Godavari Arch Bridge at Rajahmundry is an example of which type of construction?
A) Steel truss arch
B) Prestressed concrete arch
C) Reinforced concrete beam
D) Cable-stayed steel
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The Godavari Arch Bridge at Rajahmundry is India’s longest span prestressed concrete arch bridge, built with precast prestressed concrete segments to achieve the required 97.5 m arch span efficiently.
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