Vadodara: The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project has completed all 14 portal beams over the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani main railway line in Vadodara, marking a major construction milestone and clearing the way for the next phase of viaduct work across one of India’s busiest rail corridors.The completed portal beams form a key part of the high-speed rail corridor, where the alignment passes through a densely developed urban area and a busy railway network.The 8.3km Vadodara stretch crosses five Indian Railways lines, including two main lines, and cuts diagonally across the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani main line. The alignment required specially engineered structures to maintain clearances and ensure safe operations on the existing railway network.Of the 14 portal beams, 10 are located between the Vadodara Bullet Train Station and Vishwamitri railway station towards Surat. The remaining four are between Vadodara railway station and Chhayapuri railway station towards Ahmedabad, officials of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) said.With the portal beams in place, the next major task is the launching of composite girders spanning about 40 metres over the Rajdhani main line crossing.Span-by-Span (SBS) launching will be used to advance work on the elevated bullet train corridor.The portal beams were built using the cast-in-situ method because of limited space and the need to work around operational railway infrastructure. Each beam weighs about 1,500 tonnes and measures roughly 37 metres in length, four metres in width and four metres in height. Construction of each beam required about 590 cubic metres of concrete, while the reinforcement cage weighed around 55 tonnes.The work involved high-capacity cranes, hydraulic jacks, long-boom concrete pumps and precision surveying equipment. Construction above active railway tracks required careful sequencing, continuous monitoring and close coordination with Indian Railways, with traffic blocks arranged wherever required.
