Indian Railways creates new record! Recently the Waltair division under the East Coast zone, built a limited height subway under a railway line in a record time of 4 hours and 30 minutes! The Waltair division is a critical division for the movement of iron ore from NMDC in Chhattisgarh, coal from Talcher in Odisha and export-import cargo from the ports of Vishakhapatnam and Gangavaram. Also, the steel produced by RINL plant at Vishakhapatnam is moved to various consumption centres. With the focus of Indian Railways on the elimination of level crossing gates, the Waltair division had aimed to eliminate the busy manned level crossing gate number 484 between Kottavalsa- Pendurti stations on Chennai- Kolkata main trunk route, covering 38 metre over 4 mainline tracks. While, in other parts of the nation, generally the time taken for building a LHS is ranged between six to eight hours for 2 lines, Waltair division constructed LHS in just four and a half hours over 4 lines. Interestingly, this is the first ever LHS to be built over 4 lines on Indian Railways.
The project, which cost Rs 2.6 crore, included casting as well as insertion of 20 concrete boxes of size 4.65 m X 3.65 m X 1.5 m and 15 base slabs. The boxes were inserted after removing the track and 9500 cum earth portion. Within the duration of four and a half hours, 20 concrete boxes were inserted and the earth was refilled with track lining done. The work was carried out by using 6 heavy duty excavators, 3 heavy duty cranes, 4 hydra machines, 5 tippers, 10 heavy jacks along with 300 manpower.
Watch a time-lapse video of the limited height subway being built:
Interestingly, the East Coast zonal railway of Indian Railways also registered a record of building 6 limited height subways (LHS) in less than five hours duration. According to Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Sambalpur, with the new record by the East Coast Railway, all unmanned level crossings over Sambalpur Division have been eliminated. Dr. Jaydeep Gupta, DRM, East Coast Railway, Sambalpur was recently quoted saying that in Sambalpur Division the six subways have been launched simultaneously and completed in a single block in four and half hours on July 5, 2018. He further said that in view of the building of 6 LHSs, 7 LC gates will be completely closed in Bhawanipatna-Lanjigarh Road Section of Kalahandi area of Odisha.
According to the DRM, it is a first of its kind move in the entire Indian Railways. The step was taken despite several challenges and unfavourable monsoon weather conditions. However, the move has set up a new milestone in the history of Indian Railways, he added.
