Bullet Train Project: NHSRCL Completes All 14 Portal Beams Over Vadodara’s Rajdhani Line

After launching five heavy portal beams near Maninagar railway station in Ahmedabad, NHSRCL completes all 14 beams over the busy Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani main line in Vadodara.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (bullet train) project has achieved another major engineering milestone in Gujarat, with the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) completing the installation of all 14 portal beams over the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani main line in Vadodara.

The development follows the successful launching of five heavy portal beams over railway tracks near Maninagar railway station in Ahmedabad. The completion of the Vadodara work is expected to facilitate further integration of the elevated bullet train viaduct.

Bullet train corridor crosses five railway lines

An approximately 8.3-km stretch of the bullet train corridor in Vadodara passes through densely populated areas and crosses busy railway tracks. The elevated corridor diagonally crosses five Indian Railways lines, including two main lines.

The portal beams have been constructed to ensure adequate vertical clearance and allow regular railway operations to continue without disruption.

14 portal beams constructed across two sections

The portal beams have been installed at two locations along the Vadodara section.

• Towards Surat: 10 portal beams have been completed between Vadodara bullet train station and Vishwamitri railway station.
• Towards Ahmedabad: Four portal beams have been constructed between Vadodara railway station and Chhayapuri railway station.

Each portal beam weighs around 1,500 tonnes

Each completed portal beam weighs approximately 1,500 tonnes, making the construction process particularly challenging due to the heavy railway traffic, limited working space and substantial structural loads.

According to the project details, conventional precast launching methods were not feasible at these locations. Instead, all 14 portal beams were constructed using the cast-in-situ method, which involves casting the concrete directly at the construction site.

The method enabled engineers to carry out the work within the space constraints while accommodating the operational requirements of the existing railway network.

Work on composite girders to follow

With the completion of the portal beams, the project can now proceed with the installation of composite girders measuring approximately 40 metres in length over the Rajdhani main line.

Other sections of the elevated viaduct will be constructed using the span-by-span (SBS) technique.

The completion of the complex railway crossings in both Ahmedabad and Vadodara marks further progress in the civil construction work for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project in Gujarat.