MADURAI: The lift span of India’s first vertical lift sea bridge in Pamban, Rameswaram was installed successfully at 11.55 pm on Friday. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) engineers lit up the night sky with fireworks display to mark the remarkable engineering achievement.

It’s a major development as part of civil engineering in the sea bridge construction project. The rest of the work in the project includes electrical and signal works and it could be completed in a month’s time. The project, which’s underway at an estimated cost of Rs 550 crore, is likely to be commissioned for rail traffic in October this year, sources said.

The new Pamban bridge is 2,070 meter long vertical lift sea bridge and the installation of the important component of the bridge, the vertical lift was completed late on Friday.

The new bridge will have 100 spans across the sea, 99 of which will be 18.3 meters and one of which will be 72.5 meters. It will be three meters higher than the existing bridge. Substructure is being constructed for two tracks to accommodate future doubling and superstructure is being provided for single line. It will have a higher clearance to allow larger boats to pass underneath, improving sea connectivity and facilitating smoother transportation in the region.