Spectacular view of Train gliding over sea on the dangerous Rameswaram Pamban Bridge! Train accidents, Cyclonic storms, Ships colliding into the bridge, People falling from train into the sea, Mishaps, Disasters the PAMBAN BRIDGE has seen it all and is still going strong withstanding nature's fury, man made hazards for over 100 years! The Pamban Bridge truly is a marvel of Engineering and ingenuity. I was lucky enough to behold the beauty of India's first ever sea bridge over the weekend. Enjoy watching GOC WDM3A 16476R Diesel locomotive in charge of the 16779 Tirupati - Rameswaram Meenakshi Express carefully gliding over the 2.3 KM long cantilever bridge at a restricted speed of 15 kmph! The Pamban Bridge : ---------------------------- The Pamban Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge on the Palk Strait which connects the town of Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India. The bridge refers to both the road bridge and the cantilever railway bridge, though primarily it means the latter. Opened in 1914, it was India's first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge in India till 2010. The rail bridge is for the most part, a conventional bridge resting on concrete piers, but has a double leaf bascule section midway, which can be raised to let ships and barges pass through. On 24 February 2014, the Pamban Bridge marked its 100th anniversary. The Rameswaram bridge aka Pamban bridge is 6,776 ft (2,365 m) long and was opened for traffic in 1914. The railroad bridge is a still-functioning double-leaf bascule bridge section that can be raised to let ships pass under the bridge. About 10 ships such as cargo carriers, coast guard ships, fishing vessels and oil tankers pass through the bridge every month. After completion of Pamban bridge, metre gauge lines were laid from Mandapam up to Pamban Station, from here the railway lines bifurcated into two directions one towards Rameshwaram about 6.25 miles (10.06 km) up and another branch line of 15 miles (24 km) terminating at Dhanushkodi. The section was opened to traffic in 1914. The bridge consist of 143 piers and the centre span is a Scherzer rolling type lift span. It's 220 ft (67 m) long and each of 100 tonnes. Pamban Bridge accident 1964 : ------------------------------------------- The 1964 Rameshwaram cyclone (also known as the Dhanushkodi cyclone) was regarded as one of the most powerful storms to ever strike Sri Lanka (known then as Ceylon) on record. Early on December 23, the storm struck Ceylon near Pamban Island with winds estimated at 240 kmph (150 mph), ranking it as a modern-day super cyclonic storm. At least 1,800 people lost their lives as a result of the cyclone. On December 23, an estimated 7.6 m (25 ft) storm surge struck the town of Dhanuskodi on the south eastern edge of the island, submerging the town and overturning the Pamban - Dhanuskodi passenger train killing all 150 passengers on board. The town, an important transit point between India and Ceylon, was completely destroyed and has not been rebuilt since. Thanks for watching! do subscribe to my channel for more train videos :)

• published: 19 Nov 2014
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