Odisha: Railways constructs six subways in record 4.5 hours

BHUBANESWAR: More than 300 men, 12 cranes and 20 excavators were used to construct six limited height subways (LHS) or underpasses in Bhawanipatna and Lanjigarh Road section in Kalahandi district within four and a half hours on Thursday.

Sambalpur railway division of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has constructed all these underpasses simultaneously in the railway section. “Launching of six LHSs in Sambalpur division is a first of its kind not only in the ECoR, but also in the entire Indian Railways,” said Jaydeep Gupta, divisional railway manager, Sambalpur on Friday.

The railway has used seven pre-fabricated concrete box type structures to build one underpass. It has used a total of 42 concrete boxes to create 4.15 metre height subways for easy passage of vehicles. They first started removing a portion of the track and created a passage by using excavators before installing the prefabricated concrete boxes. After installation is over, the staff again lay the previous tracks on it to run the trains as usual.

The railway zone has divided work force and machineries to six places and started the work simultaneously. They completed the work at the same time, said ECoR sources.

Gupta told TOI that the LHSs were necessary before closing down some level crossings between Bhawanipatna and Lanjigarh Road stations in Kalahandi district. After construction of the subways, seven level crossing gates between these stations will be closed in the section within 20 days, he added.

“Completion of one single LHS in a block of four hours is itself an achievement, but completion of six LHSs within the same time frame was unheard of earlier. In spite of the tremendous challenges involved in constructing these subways in one go despite the unfavourable monsoon weather conditions, my division has completed the onerous task in one go creating a new milestone in the history of Indian Railways,” said Gupta.