Jammu and Kashmir [Images] can boast of having the world's tallest bridge after the construction of the Chenab bridge in Reasi district by Indian Railways.

"The Chenab Bridge, linking Kauri and Bakkal hamlets in Reasi district. will have a height of 359 m above the bed of Chenab," deputy chief engineer (DCE) Konkan Railways, Ishwar Chand said.

After completion, the bridge will become the tallest bridge in the world replacing the 323-metre tall Millau road bridge in southern France [Images]. A joint venture of Indo-European partnership and the flagship project of Konkan Railways, the work on seven pillars of the bridge, out of sixteen, was going on in full swing to meet the December 2009 deadline, he said.

Situated in the highly sensitive seismic zone, the total length of the bridge is 1315 m and is being constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs 600 crore.

"The remarkable thing about the project is that the 25,000 MTS of steel being used can withstand temperatures up to 20 degree Celsius to avoid any cracks due to contraction," Chand said.

Chand termed the construction a challenging one, especially when one has to think of laying it at a place which is totally inaccessible and is situated in topographically very difficult zone. Konkan Railways has to construct a total of 118.87 km of road to reach the non-descript and inaccessible Kauri.

Located at a height of 859 m above sea level, Kauri is surrounded on three sides by the middle Shivaliks and Trikuta hills and just 25 families reside in the area.  The bridge is being constructed on the most difficult area of 71 km of Katra-Dharam section in Reasi district.

Unlike other sections, like Jammu-Udhampur or Udhampur-Katra where only one-third  of the area is under tunnels, the Katra-Dharam section would have 80 per cent of its route through tunnels with 50 bridges and 32 tunnels