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. 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.
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