Bullet train project work progresses steadily, three river bridges built in one month in Navsari

Officials overseeing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor, popularly called the bullet train project, said work was progressing swiftly and cited the construction of three river bridges in one month in Gujarat.
Officials of the National High Speed Rail Corridor, which is constructing the high speed corridor, said four out of the 24 bridges have been built in the past six months.
“Of these four, we have managed to build three bridges, situated between Bilimora and Surat stations on the HSR route, in Navsari district in one month. There are 24 river bridges on the corridor, 20 of which are in Gujarat and the rest in Maharashtra,” the NHSRCL said in a release.
“The first bridge was completed on Purna river, the second on Mindhola rover and the third on Ambika river.The MAHSR corridor has made significant progress as three river bridges have been completed in the last one month,” said the NHSRCL, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Railways.
The longest river bridge in Gujarat is 1.2 kilometres long and is being constructed on Narmada river, while the longest bridge in Maharashtra is a 2.28 kilometre one being built on Vaitarna river, the NHSRCL said.
Rajendra Prasad, Managing Director, NHSRCL said meticulous planning is required for the construction of bridges over rivers.
“During the construction of bridges over Mindhola and Purna rivers, the tides of the Arabian Sea were closely monitored. Our engineers worked at a height of 26 metres for the construction of a bridge over Ambika river,” he said.
The bridge on Purna river is 360 meters long and required continuous monitoring of high and low tides of Arabian Sea during its construction, the NHSRCL said, adding that foundation work was challenging as water level in the river was rising five to six metres during high tides.
“For the 240-metre long bridge on Mindhola river, continuous monitoring of high and low tides from Arabian sea was done. For the third bridge of 200-metre length on Ambika river, the steep slope of the river bank posed a challenge,” it said.
Work on eight HSR stations in Gujarat, namely Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati, are under various stages of construction.
The NHSRCL said the first phase of the bullet train project is expected to be launched in 2026.