The Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge connecting the town of Rameswaram on the island of Pamban to mainland India. Opened on February 24, 1914, it was the first maritime bridge in India, and was the longest maritime bridge in India until the opening of the Bandra-Worli link in 2010. The railway bridge is for the most part a conventional bridge rests on concrete but has a double-leaf swingarm section halfway, which can be raised to let boats and barges pass. Until 1988, the Pamban Bridge was the only surface transportation that connected Tamil Nadu Island from Rameswaram to the mainland.
In 1988, a road bridge parallel to the railway bridge was also built. This road bridge is also known as Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge. The Pamban Highway Bridge connects the National Highway (NH 49) with Rameswaram Island. It is located on the narrow palk and between the shores of Mandapam (place in the main land of India) and Pamban (one of the fishermen of the city on the island of Rameswaram). It was inaugurated by former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as of 2 October 1988. This 2,345 km long bridge took about 14 years to complete.
Location
The bridge stretches across a 2 km strait between the Indian mainland and the island of Pamban. The continental end of the bridge is located at 9 ° 16'56.70 "N 79 ° 11'20.12" E. The bridge is located in the second most corrosive environment in the world after Florida, making its maintenance a challenging job. The location is also a cyclone-prone high-speed wind zone.