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What a bridge!

The train slows down with a prolonged squealing of brakes before entering the Pamban bridge that connects the mainland to Rameshwaram, as if in reverence to the 86-year-old structure.

The compartments do not have the hustle-bustle of the old days when the train was the only means of getting to the pilgrim town. Nowadays most people prefer to cross the channel over the sea by the road bridge that came up in 1988.

Still, the importance of the Pamban bridge is in no way reduced. It stands as a testimony to the construction skills of a bygone era.

The construction of the bridge way back in 1914 brought the railway networks of India and the neighbouring Sri Lanka as close as 35 km, with only the turbulent waters of the Palk Straits dividing the two.

On the Indian side, the railway line used to run up to Dhanushkodi on the southernmost tip of Rameshwaram, while the terminus for the Sri Lankan railway was at Thalaimannar. Passengers in those days used to alight at these points and then take a boat across.

Usually, the sea is calm at the bridge. Large chunks of moss encrusted stones can be seen lying at the bottom in the clear waters. According to mythology, these are remnants of the bridge constructed by Lord Rama's monkey brigade to cross over to the Lanka of Ravana.

Rameshwaram holds special significance to the devout Hindu -- it is one of the spots for the jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva. According to the Ramayana, Lord Rama had crafted a shivalinga of sand and offered prayers before setting out to construct the bridge to Lanka. No pilgrimage to places like Varanasi and Gaya is deemed to be complete without a visit to this island, floating in the azure blue waters of the Indian Ocean.

Thus, in the early part of the century, an imperative need was felt to develop another approach to Rameshwaram, other than the traditional boat service. Accordingly, plans were drawn up for a rail link.

According to Southern Railway records, construction work at the bridge, popularly known as Pamban viaduct, was started in August 1911 and completed by December 1913. It is 2065.32-meter-long spanning two km across the Bay of Bengal.

The bridge boasts of many innovations including a Scherzer span (lift span) by which a portion of the structure lifts up to allow ships to pass through.

The lift span used to be activated by using the principle of spurs and gears to gain a large amount of mechanical advantage (nearly 100 times) to lift the span weighing nearly 200 tonnes. One span on either side was lifted to allow the ships sail through.

While the bridge stood firm against the vagaries of the weather for many years, the fateful night of December 22-23, 1964, brought devastation. A cyclone swept through the Palk Straits and the Gulf of Mannar. Huge tidal waves washed away 124 spans of the bridge. Only 19 pre-stressed concrete girders at the Mandapam end and the Scherzer lift span survived.

Restoration work started immediately, as the rail link was, in the absence of any connection by road, of vital importance to Rameshwaram. The bridge was reopened for traffic on March 1, 1965. However, plans to restore the rail link to Dhanushkodi was later abandoned. Even now the remnants of the rails and other infrastructure can be seen.

Apart from the devastation from cyclone, corrosion proved to be the biggest enemy of the bridge. The girders, as originally provided for in 1913, were of the BG deck type. Due to the corrosive atmosphere, the life of such steel girders was short ranging, on an average, between ten to 15 years, sources said.

Replacing of the original girders commenced from 1935 onwards. To avoid this recurring expenditure, in 1959, it was decided to use PSC girders on the worst affected 40 spans. The girders were also metallised with aluminium before insertion to avoid corrosion.

UNI

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