India's first stainless steel foot-over-bridge opens for public at Naupada Railway station

Visakhapatnam: India's first-ever stainless steel foot-over-bridge (FOB) opened at Naupada Railway station of the Waltair division, East Coast Railway.

On Saturday, the state-of-the-art FOB was opened to the public by divisional railway manager (DRM) of Waltair division Anup Satpathy and managing director of Jindal Stainless Abhyuday Jindal. The work was assigned to Jindal Steel Company which fabricated the most cost-effective and superior quality stainless steel for structural applications – Jindal Durasafe. The FOB was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 3.7 crore.

This was the first time Indian Railways was using stainless steel girder for a FOB. The codal life of this stainless-steel FOB is 125 years as per RDSO. Being in the coastal area, the stainless-steel structure will be corrosion-free and its life span will be more than a regular mild steel FOB.

Speaking on this, the DRM said, "India's coastal railway infrastructure has, for long, been marred by corrosion. We congratulate Jindal Stainless for developing an optimum stainless steel grade to rise to the challenge. The Research Designs & Standards Organization's (RDSO) approval of the grade strengthens our confidence in this choice."

In 2019, Indian Railways invited proposals to renew FOBs in coastal areas marred by a corrosion-prone environment, rising pollution levels, and negligible maintenance across all railway divisions. Jindal Stainless developed the most cost-effective and high-quality stainless steel for structural applications, Jindal Durasafe, especially for coastal areas. IRS 350 CR has 10-12% chromium, a key ingredient in fighting corrosion, and has been designed for zero maintenance, 100 years of service life, and lower life cycle cost and carbon footprint.