The Panvalnadi bridge on the Panval river in
Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra is presently the tallest bridge in
India. The tallest pier of the bridge is 64m above bed level and the
length of the bridge is 424m. The bridge was built for Konkan Railway
and was the first bridge built in India using the incremental launching
technique. The bridge superstructure is a single-cell continuous
prestressed concrete box girder with nine intermediate 40m spans and two
end spans of 30m each. The substructure consists of hollow octagonal
reinforced concrete piers resting on open foundations. In 1995, the
bridge received the Most Outstanding Concrete Structure in India Award
from the American Concrete Institute.
However, soon the bridge will lose its coveted title of being the
tallest bridge in India. Konkan Railway is currently laying down railway
line between Katra and Laole in Jammu & Kashmir. The railway line
will have two bridges that would be taller than the Panvalnadi bridge.
One will be over River Chenab with a height of 359m while the other will
be over Anji Khad at a height of 189m.
