Meet Madhavi Latha, mind behind world's highest Chenab rail bridge in J&K

Srinagar, June 10: Often referred to as the mind behind the Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge with an estimated altitude of 359 metres above the riverbed, Madavi Latha played a visionary role in transforming a daring idea into an engineering marvel. Her commitment ensured that the bridge not only withstood the challenges of treacherous terrain and seismic vulnerability but also met global standards of construction.

The Chenab Bridge, Stretching 1,315 metres with a 467-metre-long steel arch, stands as a monumental feat of engineering in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Spanning the mighty Chenab River, the arch-shaped steel structure forms a critical link in the ambitious Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla rail project, bringing remote Himalayan regions closer to the national mainstream.

About Madhavi Latha

Professor Madhavi Latha was born in Yedugundlapadu, a small village in Andhra Pradesh. Initially, she wanted to become a doctor; however, economic circumstances led her to become the first engineer in her community.

She earned her B.Tech in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Andhra Pradesh, graduating in 1992 with first-class distinction. She then pursued an M.Tech in Geotechnical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Warangal, where she was awarded a gold medal for academic excellence.

In 2000, she joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to pursue a Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering. In 2003, she continued with post-doctoral studies in Rock Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, where she also served as a faculty member.

Dr Latha, who was the first female faculty member at IISc at the time, had to fight to get a toilet for women.

“Back then, there were no exclusive toilets for women in the department. There were only men’s toilets. I had to really fight to get a women’s toilet in the geotechnical engineering building,” IISc says on its website, quoting the professor.

Madhavi Latha currently serves as the Chair of the Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST). She has won laurels over the years. In 2021, Latha bagged the Best Woman Geotechnical Researcher award by the Indian Geotechnical Society. She also made it to the Top 75 Women in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) of India in 2022.

On June 06, as PM Modi inaugurated the Chenab bridge, IISc took to X to laud her, “We are proud of Prof Madhavi Latha & her team’s contribution to the #ChenabBridge inaugurated by Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi. The team worked on stability of slopes, design & construction of foundations, design of slope stabilization systems, incl. rock anchors to withstand hazards.”

Latha's contribution in shaping the project

Dr Latha's role in this project was not easy. She had to face extreme weather, challenging terrain, and the harsh conditions of the mountainous region. The bridge is being constructed at a height higher than the Eiffel Tower and requires precision engineering to ensure its safety and durability.

Madhavi Latha was roped in when Northern Railways and Afcons Infrastructure, the lead contractor, faced escalating technical uncertainty at the bridge site in 2005 as the site revealed fractured rock faces, hidden cavities, and slopes prone to collapse.  Being an expert in rock mechanics, soil behaviour, and geosynthetics, Dr Latha’s work became central to the project’s survival.

Dr. Latha played a crucial role in the development of the project. Her responsibilities were challenging—an uphill task and certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

Highlighting key points in nutshell, her role involved: offering professional geotechnical consultancy with Afcons with specific emphasis on slope stability and foundation safety in a tectonically active and geologically complicated region, as per Jagran Josh; advising on rock anchor, bolt, and retaining system design and installation to stabilize slopes and provide structural integrity to bridge foundations; Pioneering the use of a "design-as-you-go" methodology, innovating on the fly to respond to unforeseen geological conditions like fractured rocks, concealed cavities, and different rock characteristics that are revealed during construction

As a project advisor during the construction, particularly after a co-advisor departed, providing continuity and technical precision up to the completion of the bridge in 2022; and writing a comprehensive paper entitled "Design as You Go: The Case Study of Chenab Railway Bridge" published in the Indian Geotechnical Journal, which documents the dynamic design process adapted to the site's geological realities.

Awards and honours

Dr Latha, as per a report in India Today, has received numerous prestigious awards and honours throughout her career. She was awarded as the Best Woman Researcher in Geotechnical Engineering by the Indian Geotechnical Society in 2021.

She also received the Prof SK Chatterjee Outstanding Researcher Award from IISc and the Woman Achiever Award from the Karnataka Book of Records.

She is a recipient of the SERB POWER Fellowship and was listed amongst the Top 75 Women in STEAM of India in 2022.