17 years, no fixed blueprint: Meet Madhavi Latha, the IISc professor behind world’s tallest Chenab bridge

The Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, the world’s highest railway bridge, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Th arch bridge that stands 359 metres above the riverbed, is taller than the Eiffel Tower and forms a key part of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL), a project which was approved in 2003.

Professor G Madhavi Latha, a civil engineering expert from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, was one of the bridge's important contributors. She had been working for 17 years as the geotechnical consultant to the project. Latha, journey is remarkable, she joined IISc as the first woman faculty in her department. IISc described her journey in a May 2025 journal article titled 'Design as You Go: The Case Study of Chenab Railway Bridge.'

Unlike traditional projects, the Chenab Bridge did not begin with a fixed design, which posed a challenge. “A rigid design with fixed dimensions and pre-determined solutions would not have been feasible,” Latha wrote. To constantly evolving geological conditions, she, along with her team used a flexible 'design-as-you-go' method to respond, this method included methods using fractured rock, steep slopes, concealed cavities, and high wind speeds.

The construction team encountered various challenges, from complex rock formations to unpredictable ground conditions not evident in early surveys. Latha’s role in this situation involved developing and modifying design elements, which includes the use of rock anchors to maintain structural stability. “This approach helped in resolving various challenges that would have halted the construction if a rigid design was implemented,” she noted in her article.

Dr. Latha earned her B.Tech in Civil Engineering in 1992 from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. She also received a gold medal for her M.Tech at the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, and later on in 2000 she completed her PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from IIT Madras. Dr. Latha is now a Higher Administrative Grade professor at IISc and also chairs its Centre for Sustainable Technologies.

Latha's extraordinary expertise has earned her various acclamations, and has been recognised with several honours, including the Indian Geotechnical Society’s Best Woman Geotechnical Researcher award (2021) and the SERB POWER fellowship. She even was listed among India’s Top 75 Women in STEAM, in 2022. Acknowledging her early struggle for basic infrastructure, quoting her on the lack of women’s facilities, IISc wrote: “I had to really fight to get a women’s toilet in the geotechnical engineering building.”

Completed at a cost of Rs. 1,486 crore, the Chenab Bridge has been hailed as India’s most challenging railway project in recent history. It is a marvel in the field of engineering, which will significantly improve rail connectivity to the Kashmir Valley.