By : Neha Dhyani
Updated : Jan 25, 2022, 8:33
The Pier Bridge is part of an ambitious Indian railways project in Manipur. The bridge, projected to be the tallest bridge in the world, is part of the Jiribam-Imphal railway line, which is also under construction. The line is expected to be completed by December 2023 as per an August 2021 status update. It will eventually be extended to Moreh on the Indian-Myanmar border and Kalay in Myanmar as part of the Trans Asian Railway project. The Jiribam-Imphal railway line is part of a new broad gauge line being constructed to connect Manipur with the rest of the country.
The Pier Bridge project is being undertaken to provide connectivity to remote Northeastern areas with the rest of the country. The bridge is being constructed across river Ijai and, once completed, a distance of 111 km can be traversed in 2-2.5 hours.
After the construction, the bridge's total length will be 703 meters, and it will become the world's highest pier bridge. The bridge's piers are constructed using hydraulic augers, and there are a total of 45 tunnels in the project. The longest tunnel is Tunnel No. 12, with a length of 10.280 km, and will become the longest railway tunnel in the North East.
The Pier Bridge project is projected to be completed by December 2023. The first phase extending 12 km has already been commissioned and will be completed by February 2022. The third phase from Khongsang to Tupul will be completed by November 2022, and the final phase of the bridge will be completed by December 2023.
The Millau Viaduct, located in Creissels, France, is the tallest bridge in the world, with a height of 1,104 feet. The multi-span cable-stayed bridge covers the Tarn Valley. The bridge is part of the A75 to A71 route and was constructed mainly using concrete and steel. Interestingly, the Millau Viaduct is 62 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower.
The Pingtang bridge located in China’s Guizhou Province is the tallest bridge in China. The cable-supported viaduct spans a huge canyon and is part of the Pingtang-Luodian Highway. The bridge opened in 2020, shortening the journey to Luodian from Pingtangin to about an hour.
The Hutong Yangtze River Bridge connects Suzhou and Nantong and is a part of the Nantong Shanghai railway, which opened in July 2020. The bridge towers are 1,082 feet tall, with the top part of the bridge containing a six-lane highway and the bottom part, four rail tracks. The bridge is built to withstand the worst natural disasters, including collisions from cargo ships, deadly typhoons, and even powerful earthquakes.
The TRY Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge was a ₺4.5 billion project that opened in 2016. The bridge is a suspension bridge that covers the Bosphorus Strait and connects Europe to Asia. The bridge is the first to use a hybrid cable system that combines cables and suspensions and was designed to withstand heavy traffic with eight lanes for vehicles and two rail lines.
The Russky bridge cost $1.1 billion USD to build and, at 1,053 feet tall, is also one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world. The bridge was built to promote the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Community Project and has a length of 3,622 feet.
Once completed, the Pier Bridge, which is being built at a pier height of 141 meters, will be the tallest in the world.
The tallest bridge in the world currently in terms of structure and height from the ground is the Millau Viaduct in France which stands at 343 meters (1,125) tall.
According to Guinness World Records, the five-lane San Francisco–Oakland Bay toll bridge, opened in 1963 and restored post a massive earthquake in 1989, is the most expensive bridge in the world. The estimated cost of restoring it was $6.3 billion.
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