Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train: NHSRCL completes 12-storey-tall Sabarmati River Bridge

The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has recently finished constructing the 480-metre-long Sabarmati River bridge as part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The bridge, which stands approximately 36 metres high - equivalent to a 12-storey building - is a major structure of the bullet train corridor in Ahmedabad. It connects the Sabarmati and Ahmedabad train stations, situated around 1 km and 4 km from the respective stations.

The bridge was designed to maintain sufficient clearance from existing infrastructure in the area, such as railway lines, flyovers, bridges and metro corridors. Due to the presence of these structures, the piers of the Sabarmati River bridge were constructed at a greater height. The bridge is supported by eight circular piers, with diameters ranging from 6 to 6.5 metres.

Four piers are located inside the riverbed, two on each riverbank, and two outside the riverbed. This arrangement aims to minimize obstruction to the river's waterway.

The Sabarmati River bridge uses longer spans of 50 to 76 metres, which helps reduce the number of piers needed inside the riverbed. Unlike other river bridges on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor with spans of around 40 metres, this bridge's longer spans have enabled a more efficient construction process. The bridge was built using the Balanced Cantilever Method, which allows construction without installing conventional support structures underneath the entire bridge deck.

Each span consists of 23 segments, constructed with precision engineering and quality checks at various stages.

With the completion of the Sabarmati River bridge, 18 out of the 21 planned river bridges in Gujarat for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor have now been finished.