Crane Brought to Dismantle Pamban Bridge Topples

Rameswaram: A crane that was being employed to dismantle the old Pamban railway bridge overturned on Thursday. No one was injured in the accident.

In the afternoon, the crane was brought to the entrance of the bridge, Mandapam Dhonithurai, for the removal of the railway bridge. When it was trying to lower it near the railway tracks, it collapsed and fell.

The Pamban railway bridge was built in 1914 to connect Rameswaram island with the Mandapam mainland. After a century, this bridge often experienced technical problems, so the new Pamban railway bridge was built with modern technology.

Now that the bridge was not in use, the railway administration decided to dismantle the old Pamban railway bridge. A tender notice was issued last August seeking a contract to dismantle it.

In that notice, the suspension bridge in the middle of this 2.3-km-long bridge, the girder bridge, and the rails were ordered to be dismantled at a cost of Rs. 2.53 crore. Based on that, a puja was performed on the bridge on January 23, and the crane was brought to dismantle the bridge.