Chapper Rift - Baluchistan - 1889
The Chapper Rift was probably the greatest - if temporary - engineering feat on the Sindh Peshin Railway. The rift itself was created by the separation of two plates during an earthquake. Constructing the pillars that supported the railway line and the tunnels was an almost impossible task. Men were lowered on cradles and had to work against sheer cliff faces. A drilling machine was drawn by elephants who were never able to work again. Sudden floods could appear anytime. Maintenance was extremely difficult and expensive. In 1942 flood waters finally washed out too many structures, and the railway section was shut down. Two years later the bridge girders were removed to be used elsewhere.
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