The Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the world's highest railway arch bridge, has sparked widespread celebration across the nation. Amidst the accolades, Professor G Madhavi Latha, a key contributor to the project and geotechnical consultant for Afcons, the engineering firm behind the bridge, has chosen to shift the spotlight. In a heartfelt LinkedIn post, Dr Latha paid tribute to the "millions of unsung heroes" who played pivotal roles in bringing this engineering marvel to life.
She also humbly downplayed her involvement, emphasising that her role was limited to developing slope stabilisation schemes and designing foundations on slopes and urged people not to make her "unnecessarily famous." "I salute the millions of unsung heroes. My role was to help in developing slope stabilisation schemes and the design of foundations on slope," she added in the message on LinkedIn.
Dr Latha also mentioned about the media attention surrounding her role in the project. After being hailed as the "woman behind the mission" and credited with performing "miracles" in building the bridge, she described such headlines as "baseless." "Please don't make me unnecessarily famous. I am one of the thousands who deserve appreciation for Chenab Bridge," she added.
The professor from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, who is currently in Spain for a conference, thanked everyone who sent her congratulatory messages. "Many fathers have written to me saying that they want their daughters to become like me. Many young kids have written to me that they now want to take up Civil Engineering as their career choice," she added.
Here's her LinkedIn post:
Who is Madhavi Latha?
Dr G Madhavi Latha is a distinguished civil engineer and academic, currently serving as a Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) Professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. She also holds the position of Chair at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at IISc.
Academic background:
Latha earned her undergraduate degree from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University with a B.Tech in Civil Engineering (1992). She pursued her master's in M.Tech in Geotechnical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, where she was awarded a gold medal for her outstanding academic performance. Latha completed her doctoral studies in 2000 (PhD in Geotechnical Engineering) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, focusing on advanced topics in geotechnical engineering.
About the Chenab railway bridge?
Built 359 metres above the Chenab River, this is the highest railway bridge in the world. It is 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower and nearly five times taller than Delhi’s Qutub Minar from riverbed to rail level. This bridge will reduce the travel time between Katra and Srinagar via the Vande Bharat Express to approximately 3 hours, cutting current travel times by 2–3 hours.
This is part of the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link. The Bridge spans 1,315 metres across the Chenab River near the Salal Dam and has been designed to withstand extreme seismic activity and high wind speeds.
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