Anji Khad is a 313m long arch bridge over River Anji Khad. This bridge carrying two railway tracks is part of a larger railroad extension project. The special challenges of this remote site include material transportation, construction staging, and facilities for complex steel fabrication. Sena Kumarasena, Ph.D., PE served as the Project Manager and the Lead Engineer for the tender (bid) phase and final design of the arch bridge on behalf of Gammon India Limited. Stringent requirements for bridge safety, redundancy of critical elements, post-damage bridge serviceability, and site-specific seismicity were among many design challenges. Sena developed the 3-rib, steel-concrete composite arch solution (shown here) that the CJV selected for construction due to its improved efficiency and constructability. The innovative design resulted in a two-third reduction in steel usage, simpler fabrication details, superior safety performance, and ease of construction. The design is based on erecting hollow steel sections by cantilever construction first and subsequently filing with locally produced self-consolidating concrete, ideal for this site.
