Meet Dr Madhavi Latha, the IISc professor who dedicated 17 years for the Chenab Bridge
The
Chenab Bridge
in Jammu and Kashmir is the highest bridge in the world and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. The project is part of the 272 km
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link
(USBRL), which was approved in 2003.
One of the major contributors to the construction of the engineering marvel is Dr
G Madhavi Latha
, a professor at the
Indian Institute of Science
(
IISc
) in Bengaluru. She was involved for 17 years in the Chenab Bridge project as a geotechnical consultant.
Latha worked closely with Afcons, the contractor of the bridge, in the planning, design and construction of the structure, focusing on the obstacles due to the terrain.
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Who Is G Madhavi Latha?
Madhavi Latha is currently a HAG professor at IISc. She completed her B.Tech in Civil Engineering in 1992 from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, where she achieved first class with distinction.
She then bagged a gold medal as an M.Tech student at the National Institute of Technology, Warangal with a specialisation in
Geotechnical Engineering
. Further, Latha completed her doctorate from IIT-Madras in 2000 in Geotechnical Engineering.
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She has received several awards over the years, including the Best Woman Geotechnical Researcher award by the Indian Geotechnical Society in 2021. She was also named in the Top 75 Women in STEAM of India in 2022.
Role In Chenab Bridge Project
The bridge is an extremely challenging project due to the adverse topography, weather conditions and remote location.
Latha's team adopted a 'design-as-you-go approach' to overcome the obstacles. They innovated in real time based on geological conditions such as fractured rocks, hidden cavities, and varying rock properties, which were not evident in early surveys.
The team made complex calculations and design modifications to work around the actual rock mass conditions they found during the construction. Latha's contributions included advice on the design and placement of rock anchors to improve stability.
She has recently published a paper in the Indian Geotechnical Journal's women's special issue titled 'Design as You Go: The Case Study of Chenab Railway Bridge.'
The paper describes how the design of the bridge has evolved continuously, with the overall structure, location and type being the only constants to suit the geological conditions of the site.
About Chenab Bridge
The Chenab Bridge, described as the "biggest civil-engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history' by the government is built at a cost of Rs 1,486 crore. The 359-metre bridge is taller than the Eiffel Tower by 35 metres. It is set to improve connectivity in the Kashmir valley.
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