Reinforced Soil System for Railways at USBRL Project in Jammu, India

The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project was undertaken by the Government of India to connect Jammu and Kashmir to the rest of the country. This 272 km long railway project, which connects Udhampur to Baramulla, will reduce travel time between Srinagar and Jammu from six hours to a mere 3.5 hours. It is considered one of the most challenging railway projects in the Indian subcontinent. Maccaferri provided a flexible hybrid reinforced soil (RS) structure for railways at locations 40, 41, 42, and 43 of the USBRL project. Bridges 40, 41, and 42 were constructed to support the railway embankment / formation, whereas bridge 43 was constructed just near Chenab bridge. This a first time Indian railways used reinforced soil system for such height. Maccaferri’s geosynthetic solutions were adopted over conventional solutions as they are sustainable and economical. Around 3 lakh cubic meters of tunnel muck, a site-won waste from tunnel excavation, was used to build the reinforced soil (RS) structure instead of concrete, which has helped in reducing carbon emissions and cutting costs by up to 50 percent.