Ar. Abhijit Saha (98319 32317)

Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, is almost ready, and will likely open for railway operations soon. Referring to it as an ‘infrastructure marvel in making’, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal also shared a photo of the 476 m-long steel arches of the upcoming railway bridge over the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district.

Reportedly, Indian Railways has been constructing this bridge over the Chenab River, under Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project (USBRL). Built at a height of 359 m, Chenab Bridge has always been in the news as it was touted to become the world’s highest railway bridge. 

• It’s made up of steel arches, whereas the mountain slopes supporting the foundations of the main arch have been stabilised.
• Although touted as an engineering marvel, it has missed several deadlines for completion due to inclement climate, and challenging terrain in young fold mountains of Himalayas.
• Built in an earthquake prone Seismic Zone IV, seismic analysis has also been carried out by various IITs. Reportedly, the bridge will be able to withstand earthquake forces up to Seismic Zone V.
• It has also been designed to be ‘blast-proof’ in consultation with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• Reportedly, the bridge will have a lifespan of 120 years, and have a design speed of 100 km.

Chenab Bridge, world’s highest is a part of Jammu – Udhampur – Srinagar-Baramulla Rail line (JUSBRL) project of Indian Railways having 14 M wide dual carriageway and 1.2 M wide central verge.  It was launched in 2003.  Design of bridge was approved in July 2012.  It is constructed in one of the most complicated and isolated terrains.  Biggest challenge was not to stop the flow of river.  It forms a massive steel arch, the first of its kind in India.  The country has no codes or design guidance for such massive structures.   Based on experiences drawn from similar projects worldwide, the design practices for the bridge are being followed :

Development of Self-Reliant Engineers in prevailing COVID-19 situation”.

Unemployment crisis in India is increasing rapidly. The GDP growth in India has started falling since the beginning of last year. To add to the difficulty the spread of Corona Virus related disease in 2020 had an overwhelming impact on Indian economy. As many as 41 lakh youths have lost jobs in the COVID-19 Pandemic situation.   The entire world is reeling from the COVID-19 Pandemic situation caused to lockdown and quarantine as an effective measure to isolate population and prevent spreading of the disease.  The worst hit are the people related to farming & construction sector. However long period of lockdown has registered not only job loss among labourers& workers but also among Engineers, Management Staff, Accountants and other highly paid, skilled & qualified salaried employees doing white collar jobs. The job market is shrinking day by day.    Thus in the economically distressed situation of the country and the world at large it is expected that many people has lost and shall loose employment in days to come.                               

An effective means to combat joblessness in the society is to encourage entrepreneurship among qualified persons so that they may not depend on getting jobs after graduation and shall venture out to develop their own business causing employment for themselves and for others.  As such, scope of qualified Engineers & Architects are also restricted substantially. The only available alternative for sustenance is to be involved in self- employment. However in this unpredictable financial situation it is not amenable to go for large initial investment to start a business venture. Thus knowledge based consultancy can be as economically viable business venture for young Engineers and Architects.

Strategy for business deployment :

In this paper the author is to share some strategic views which he accumulated over some forty years of experience in the concerned field of Engineering Consultancy which may be effective and beneficial to the aspiring young Civil Engineers& Architects to start a new business venture: -

• Introducing Industry based business venture in final year of Graduation Course.
• To be an able entrepreneur stress should be in practical Engineering field such as Surveying, Drawing, Design, Geotechnical, Estimating & Costing, Construction vocational training during the undergraduate study.
• Understanding of accountancy & bookkeeping and developing management skills & speaking power.
•  Engineering course should be designed from practical application angle so that the final year student is exposed to practical aspects of Engineering and running a business including tendering process and Real Estate development.
• \Full knowledge of running computer software for the purpose of drawing and design of structures.
• The entrepreneur Engineer should be aware of various banking facility given by the Govt. of India & State Govt. for encouragement of entrepreneurship activity in the country.
• For effective consultancy work, Engineer and Architect should update their knowledge and be conversant with the handbooks, codes of practice & Municipal Bye-laws in Civil Engineering & Architecture.
• The Engineer and Architect must take membership of professional societies such as the Institution of Engineers (India) or Indian Institute of Architects so as to develop connection with other Fellow &Senior Engineers and shall always be involved in continuous professional development to increase his skill and understanding of Engineering.

Conclusion

The Pandemic may affect the economy of the country for years to come. To counter this unhappy economic situation and jobless condition entrepreneurship among Civil Engineer & Architects with proper training & education should be encouraged. Getting self-employed and generating employment for the others can ensure the dream of a ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or self-reliant India of Prime Minister.

Our Foundation Day  -  5th May

Because of Pandemic of Covid – 19 we could not hold Foundation Day in 2020.  We hope to hold this year on a suitable convenient day, provided all our members are vaccinated with double dose of medicine and permitted by Govt.

We await formation of a new Govt. in our State of West Bengal with promises of all round development – specially in the field of Architecture and Engineering, creating wealth and jobs. 

Kolkata Redevelopment Scheme shall be in the line of Singapore adopting full package on cluster to cluster basis – by replacement, sustenance & rehabilitation as understood from lecture of Home Minister of India during Election campaign.

We expect to face floodgate of all round development between 2021 – 2026.  AMEC members be part of it.