Even as the Pamban Railway Bridge, which connects the mainland with the Rameswaram Island, is scheduled to celebrate 100 years of existence in 2013, the General Manager of Southern Railway, Deepak Kishan has said that it would start procedural and documentary formalities so as to get the UNESCO's world heritage status for the Pamban Railway Bridge.The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), from Mettpalayam to Ooty and Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) were recognised with the status of World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 2005 and 1999 respectively.According to railway records, Pamban bridge was constructed in 1913. The 99-year-old bridge is one of the major attractions for tourists . It is 2.06 km long and has 146 spans.The bridge was constructed at a time when technology was primitive.The boulders and stones used for the bridge were brought by rail from a quarry 270 km away and sand...
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from 110 km away.
Viaduct
The viaduct was built in just 18 months. Nearly 5,000 tonnes of cement, 18,000 cubic feet of crushed metal, 2,600 tonnes of steel and 80,000 cubic feet of boulders were believed to have been used for constructing the bridge.The star attraction of the bridge is the portion that can be opened, which is named after Scherzer, who designed and executed it. Whenever ships pass, the bridge opens, giving a spectacular view for tourists.The Railway officials had been maintaining that it deserves the status of World Heritage Site.J.P. Batra, then Chairman of Railway Board, who inspected the bridge in the second week of June 2007 stated that it was the finest example for getting the World Heritage Site status and added that the Indian Railways would collect documentary evidence to get the status.