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Since centuries, India has been building engineering marvels, leaving everyone in awe. Be it hanging pillar in a 16th century temple, or musical pillars, or largest monolith in the world, India has turned out stones and ideas into fascinating objects with chisel and hammer and engineering techniques. 
 
From building temples to services for the mankind, India has numerous engineering marvels to boast of. Indians have linked two lands separated by seas and have connected masses to remotest of the villages with bridges. 
 
You name it, we have already conquered it. Such engineering marvels can be seen in railways. For instance, the Pamban sea bridge, the second longest sea bridge, after Worli Sea Link in Mumbai that was opened to public in 2010. 
 
Pamban Sea Bridge was opened to public in 1914 and was India’s first sea bridge that connected southern Rameswaram town on Pamban Island to Palk Strait. The bridge spans a 2 km-strait between mainland and island and is the only surface transport link between the two. 
 
It is also India’s first Cantilever bridge and there were many challenges while constructing it, such as it was built in world’s second highly corrosive environment, first one being Mexico. 
 
Here are some other interesting details about the bridge:

Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram is an engineering marvel. Here are 5 quick facts about India’s first Cantilever bridge

Now that the winter is right upon us and the proverbial Delhi fog is fast approaching the point of zero visibility, how about a leisurely ride to the <keyword id="24879" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sun">sun</keyword>, <keyword id="42711" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Seas">seas</keyword> and sands that will warm your heart? Especially when you are chugging on to some breathtakingly beautiful coastal stretches overlooking the sea? Last month, we have taken our readers on a picturesque <keyword id="6374782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="journey">journey</keyword> through India’s heartland. On this third and last leg of our trip today, we will take you on a <keyword id="1981639" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Coastal-ride">coastal ride</keyword> as the train meanders its way through sloping hills, beautiful valleys and misty blue coastlines. And finally, there’s the <keyword id="824801" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="unforgettable">unforgettable</keyword> <keyword id="1981642" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sea-bridge-ride">sea bridge ride</keyword> to <keyword id="6354932" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rameswaram">Rameswaram</keyword>. Just take a train of your choice to live and relive the journey. “Be like a train; go in the rain, go in the sun, go in the storm, go in the dark <keyword id="142777" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="tunnels">tunnels</keyword>! Be like a train; concentrate on your road and go with no hesitation,” says Turkish writer <keyword id="1981629" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mehmet-Murat">Mehmet Murat</keyword> ildan and we cannot agree more. Happy journey, folks, and happy holidays! 
 
Image: Wikipedia

Chugging Out To Sea: Five Coast-hugging Train Rides Along Indian Shores

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is building a fleet capable of operations on the high seas.</li><li>Its new missile corvettes are the most heavily armed combatant ships in its fleet.</li></ul>In the last three years, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has commissioned hundreds of new vessels. Most are newer variants of the missile, rocket, and heavy machine-gun-clad speedboats that have long formed the backbone of the IRGCN's fleet, but beginning in 2022, the IRGCN began commissioning new classes of warships capable of operating on the high seas.The vessels, four newly designed missile-armed catamaran corvettes and a container ship converted into an expeditionary sea base, bring new capabilities to the hardline force known for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fdd.org/iranmaritimeaggression/">carrying out dangerous missions</a> like attaching mines to ship hulls and hijacking merchant ships, giving Iran options to keep adversaries with advanced navies and air forces like Saudi Arabia and the US off-balance.The largest ships ever to be commissioned into its service, the vessels enable the IRGCN to operate major surface combatants with long-range anti-ship and anti-air weapons, and also helps the historically littoral force to pursue a new mission only recently given to it: to project power into the high seas via expeditionary operations.With a fourth catamaran missile corvette on the way and another container ship <a target="_blank" href="https://en.mehrnews.com/news/197748/Shahid-Bagheri-UAVs-carrier-to-be-unveiled-in-near-future">being converted into a drone carrier</a>, the IRGCN's future fleet is gaining the larger ships and firepower needed to confront its adversaries beyond the Persian Gulf.<div type="image" title="The Shahid Hassan Bagheri is one of three new missile corvettes that are the most heavily armed warships in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy's fleet." height="1323" width="2000" msid="111485060" hostid="261" sizebytes="135322"></div><h2 id="c274a839-af2a-45a5-8780-d1e46e1883f2">Catamaran missile corvettes</h2>Founded in 1985, the IRGCN is the naval branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization that operates as the ideological steward of Iran's revolution separate from the national military and which answers directly to Tehran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Numbering around 25,000 personnel, in 2007, the IRGCN was tasked with the security of the Persian Gulf, while Iran's national navy was given responsibility for the waters of the inland Caspian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and beyond. Responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth that dog-legs into the Persian Gulf, is shared between the two forces.Since its inception, the IRGCN has employed an asymmetric doctrine that utilizes swarm and guerilla tactics with an emphasis on numbers, speed, mobility, and geographical advantages. They are known for provocative tactics that harass and threaten US Navy warships and civilian merchant vessels.Operating in conjunction with Iran's land-based missiles and aircraft, the IRGCN can mount rapid sea assaults that exploit the islands and contours of Iran's coast. They rely extensively on hundreds of smaller vessels, namely fast attack craft (FAC) and fast inshore attack craft (FAIC) like those of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/hudong.htm">Tondar</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/peykaap-pics.htm">Peykaap</a>-classes which are armed with heavy machine guns, rockets, anti-ship missiles, and torpedoes to swarm enemy warships that may also be under attack from loitering munitions.On September 5, 2022, the IRGCN diverged from its usual procurement practices when it commissioned the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/december/irans-first-vls-missile-catamaran">Shahid Soleimani</a>, the lead ship of a new class of corvettes named after the leader of the IRGC's elite <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-administrations-shifting-explanations-for-soleimani-killing-2020-1">Quds Force</a> who was killed in a US drone strike in 2020. At 213 feet long, 47 feet wide, and displacing an estimated 600 tons, it is one of the largest surface combatants the IRGCN has ever adopted.The class utilizes a unique twin-hulled catamaran design. The design offers increased speed and stability at the expense of volume to carry more fuel or armaments. Though rare for frontline warships, some major navies do possess catamaran corvettes, including China, Russia, Taiwan, and Norway.The IRGCN itself has been operating a single catamaran called the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/harth-55.htm">Shahid Nazeri</a> since 2016. Despite being lightly armed, it has a record of harassing US vessels and civilian ships in the Persian Gulf.But while Shahid Nazeri has few armaments, the Soleimani-class corvettes are the most heavily armed vessels in the IRGCN fleet, with an armament of 28 missiles, four 23mm Gatling guns (two in front of the bridge and two amidships), and one 30mm auto-cannon at the bow. Their formidable missile armaments are designed to threaten ships and aircraft.Twenty-two of the missiles are stored in vertical launch systems (VLS), making the Soleimanis the first vessels in Iranian service with vertical launch capability. Believed to all house surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), they are arranged in two groups of eleven cells (eight small and three large) on the port and starboard sides just behind the bridge.The six large cells are believed to house medium-range SAMs with a range of 92 miles each, while the sixteen small cells are believed to house short-range SAMs. Six box launchers amidships (three on each side) house anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs); likely four long-range ASCMs like the Ghadir or Noor, with ranges of 184 and 74 miles, respectively, and two short-range ASCMs like the Nasr, which has a range of 21 miles.A helicopter deck is located just behind the box launchers and mast. Below it is a hangar reportedly large enough for three IRGCN FIACs; these fast inshore attack boats can be lowered into the water and picked up by an internal crane.Made out of aluminum, Iranian officials have said that the ships have a range of 5,500 nautical miles. They have also said that the catamaran layout provides stability in rough seas and reduces the ships' radar cross-sections, making them harder to detect and track.Three Soleimani-class corvettes, Shahid Soleimani, Shahid Hassan Bagheri, and Shahid Sayyad Shirazi, have been commissioned, while a fourth, Shahid Ra'is-Ali Delvari, is under construction. One month before the Hassan Bagheri and Sayyad Sirazi's commissioning last February, the IRGCN commissioned a new type of catamaran corvette, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hisutton.com/Iran-IRGC-Abu-Mahdi-Class.html">Shahid Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis</a>.At 157 feet long, 39 feet wide, and displacing around 300 tons, it is smaller than the Shahid Soleimani-class and vastly different in appearance; it has no internal hangar capable of holding FAICs, no VLS cells, and the landing deck behind the bridge appears to be too small for helicopters, likely meaning it is intended for drones.Its armament consists of 14 missiles; six ASCMs stored in box launchers at the stern and eight more ASCMs in two quad-tubed launchers on the port and starboard sides. It is also equipped with four 23mm Gatling guns and one 30mm auto-cannon.Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the IRGCN, described the Shahid Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis as an "invisible boat" because of its catamaran design, and said it had a range of 2,300 miles. <h2 id="847ddf3b-1714-41d3-83b8-40af97f05a77">Converted container ships</h2>Though the newest, the catamaran corvettes are not the first sea-faring vessels the IRGCN has operated. The service has unofficially operated the cargo ships <a target="_blank" href="https://news.usni.org/2020/10/26/iranian-spy-ship-commands-strategic-position-on-vital-oil-route">MV Saviz</a> and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/5fb8849c-b5b2-4f6f-908f-2c125159e3ce">MV Behshad</a> which, although officially registered as civilian vessels, are used as forward base and command ships to coordinate support for Houthi rebels in Yemen and to gather intelligence. The IRGC <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-middle-east-e4bde7250333a85445fe9a9f0f1c64a8">smuggles weapons</a> to the Houthis and train them on their use.In 2020, the IRGCN commissioned its first official sea-going vessel, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hisutton.com/Iranian-IRGC-Forward-Base-Shahid-Roudaki.html">Shahid Roudaki</a>. A converted roll-on/roll-off ship, the Shahid Roudaki is capable of carrying FAICs, drones, and military vehicles, and has space for a helicopter on its deck. It is armed with four ASCM box launchers and is believed to play an intelligence-gathering and support role.Roudaki was briefly the largest ship in the IRGCN fleet until March 2023, when the Guard commissioned the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/irgcn-shahd-mahdavi.htm">Shahid Mahdavi</a>, a converted container ship formerly known as Sarvin.At 787 feet long and 105 feet wide, Mahdavi's role is that of an expeditionary sea base and support/mothership. Equipped with a phased array radar and capable of carrying two helicopters, drones, loitering munitions like the Shahed-136, and FAICs, Mahdavi can also be used as a base from which IRGCN special forces can be inserted, and act as an intelligence-gathering vessel.It is often compared to the US Navy's Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile bases, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uss-lewis-puller-tanker-like-warship-floating-navy-seal-base-2024-1">lead ship of which</a> has spent ample time in the Persian Gulf in view of Iranian forces.Iran's navy has a similar vessel, the IRINS Makran, a forward base ship converted from an oil tanker. Commissioned in 2021, it has conducted multiple long-range voyages, including one that saw it circumnavigate the globe.Mahdavi made international headlines in February when it launched two ballistic missiles from shipping containers placed on its deck as part of the Great Prophet 18 military exercise. Fired from the Gulf of Oman, the missiles were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/13/irans-irgc-makes-naval-show-of-force-as-gaza-war-rages">reported</a> to have successfully hit mock targets in a desert in central Iran, demonstrating an at-sea launch capability for Iran's ballistic missiles.The ship again made headlines in May when it sailed into the Southern Hemisphere, proving definitively that the IRGCN's reach <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/dopaminedealers/status/1791845756824936655">now extends to the high seas</a>.Mahdavi will eventually be joined by another converted container ship, the Shahid Bagheri. Formerly known as the Perarin, the vessel has been undergoing conversion into a drone carrier for the IRGCN since 2021.Measuring 787 feet long, the ship's width has been increased slightly with the <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mhmiranusa/status/1607045992557281282">addition of a cantilever deck</a> on its port side. In 2023, a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hisutton.com/Iran-IRGC-Drone-Carrier-Update-04-2023.html">ski-jump ramp was fitted</a> to the bow at an angle toward the starboard side in line with the cantilever deck, suggesting that wheeled drones will take off and land by avoiding the ship's towering superstructure that houses the bridge.The makeup of Bagheri's future unmanned air wing remains a matter of speculation, and could include Shahed 171 and 191s (which are reverse-engineered Iranian copies of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1209/Downed-US-drone-How-Iran-caught-the-beast">captured</a> American RQ-170 Sentinel), or Mohajer-6 and Shahed 129 drones, all of which can reportedly be used as reconnaissance and strike platforms.The Bagheri's flight deck measures about 590 feet. The main recovery method for the drones will likely be an arrestor net or cable system of some type, though drones with short takeoff and landing ability may be able to conventionally land in calm seas.Like the Mahdavi, Bagheri could also be used as a launch platform for loitering munitions like one-way attack drones. In addition, Rear Adm. Tangsiri has said that Bagheri will be able to store 30 FAICs below its deck.<div type="image" title="The IRGCN's new warships come with a mandate to expand well beyond the speedboat and fast attack operations that have characterized much of its operations in the Persian Gulf." height="1330" width="2000" msid="111485309" hostid="261" sizebytes="178706"></div><h2 id="0b86703b-52ab-4f58-8648-98f2dde650ab">An expanded mission</h2>Altogether, the ships represent radical upgrades for the IRGCN — upgrades that the force has desperately wanted.Though its asymmetric tactics and assets have successfully <a target="_blank" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/middle-east_iran-shoots-down-us-drone/6170355.html">shot down</a> an American drone, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iranian-ships-tried-seize-oil-tanker-opened-fire-us-navy-2023-7">damaged</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-iran-attack-boats-swarm-oil-tanker-latest-maritime-seizure-2023-5">seized</a> merchant ships, and taken American and British naval personnel prisoners, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/operation-praying-mantis-shows-destruction-of-potential-us-iran-war-2021-4">last major combat engagement the IRGCN fought</a> was a humiliating defeat for Iran, due in large part to hostile missile-equipped surface combatants and airpower.Now sailing with large surface combatants armed with anti-air and anti-ship missiles, as well as new FIACs with better anti-ship and anti-air capabilities, the IRGCN poses a greater threat than it did in the 1980s."They know they are going on missions that require defense against aerial threats as well as surface threats, so they have to be prepared to defend against those threats by themselves," Farzin Nadimi, a senior defense fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told Insider.But the IRGCN's new ships are not just intended for protecting the Persian Gulf — they are also for helping the IRGCN in its new mission: Projecting its power into the high seas.Previously a mission reserved for Iran's national navy, this expansion of duty was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-53138431">ordered by Ayatollah Khamenei himself in 2020</a>. Though no direct reason has been given for the change, Iranian officials often talk about how the ships will better secure Iran's maritime interests."In general, they have portrayed their new mission as protecting the safety and security of Iran's vital maritime routes," Nadimi said.But it's more likely that the IRGCN needs high-seas capability to better support the IRGC's goal of furthering Iran's strategic interests. Iran is a rival to Israel and Saudi Arabia and arms groups across the region like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen.While Iran's navy is involved in anti-piracy missions and international voyages to show its flag, it is the IRGC that is responsible for supporting Iran's proxy groups abroad. The Guard is also the frontline force for Iran's efforts in Syria.In the event that its allies need supplies, the new catamaran corvettes "would be able to escort Iranian ships, tankers, or cargo ships that carry important cargoes," Nadimi said. The Mahdavi and Bagheri, converted container ships themselves, could even carry the cargo and deliver it directly.And while the MV Saviz and MV Behshad have likely been unofficially aiding the Houthis, the fact that they are not officially Iranian military vessels exposes them to the possibility of being attacked in gray zone operations, as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-state-tv-acknowledges-ship-attacked-in-red-sea-in-hit-attributed-to-israel/">happened to Saviz in 2021</a>, when a suspected Israeli limpet mine attack crippled it, causing it to be towed back to Iran.The IRGCN's new ships, by contrast, are official vessels of the regime. "By law they are sovereign territory of Iran," Nadimi said. "They have the threat of serious escalation behind them if Israel directly attacks them."The ships can also serve Iran's possible tactical goals as well. As a mobile sea-based ballistic missile launch platform with a long range, the Mahdavi poses a particularly potent threat. An IRGCN surface group made up of the Soleimanis, Madhavi, and Bagheri may even be able to pose a threat to US bombers based in Diego Garcia, an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.If tensions in the region continue to escalate into a direct conflict with Israel, these ships could pose a big enough threat that they could become high-priority targets for Israeli submarines operating in the Red and Arabian seas.With Bagheri finishing construction and a fourth Soleimani-class catamaran being built, the IRGCN's fleet is only expected to get larger as it embraces its new high-seas mission."Our oceangoing warships can be present in every location across the world, and when we can fire missiles from them, there is accordingly no safe spot for anyone intending to create insecurity for us," Tangsiri <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2024/02/13/3038628/irgc-warship-fires-long-range-ballistic-missile">said</a> after the successful missile launches from Mahdavi.Benjamin Brimelow is a freelance journalist covering international military and defense issues. He holds a master's degree in Global Affairs with a concentration in international security from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. His work has appeared in Business Insider and the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gets powerful ships to confront adversaries well beyond the Persian Gulf 

If you admire modern age engineering marvels, a look at history will leave you spellbound. Our great rulers always had a vision for future and it shows in the structures they built us, which are still useful for the mankind. 
 One of the structures is <keyword id="870589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kallanai-dam">Kallanai Dam</keyword>, or the <keyword id="2978336" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Grand-Anicut">Grand Anicut</keyword>, which will amuse you. 
 
The dam was built in first century by the then Chola King Karikalan. It is one of the oldest water-diversion or water regulating structures in the world, which is still standing tall and in amazing condition. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Pamban-Bridge-in-Rameswaram-is-an-engineering-marvel-Here-are-5-quick-facts-about-Indias-first-Cantilever-bridge/articleshow/53284383.cms">Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram is an engineering marvel. Here are 5 quick facts about India’s first Cantilever bridge</a> 
 
The dam is important for irrigation in the Cauvery delta. Kallanai Dam is not only a tourist attraction, but this dam across the Cauvery River in Tamil Nadu is also a lesson for historians and engineering experts. 
 
The main function of this dam was to keep the water supply in the Cauvery and its branches and pass on the surplus into Coleroon through the Ullar River. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-Janjira-Fort-just-two-hours-away-from-Mumbai-is-one-of-the-strongest-sea-forts-in-India/articleshow/53337793.cms">This Janjira Fort, just two hours away from Mumbai, is one of the strongest sea forts in India</a> 
 
You can reach Kallanai dam from Tiruchirappalli, which is just 19 kilometres away. The nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli airport. 
 
Here are the other fascinating details about the Kallanai Dam

This First Century dam in India is one of the oldest in the world and is still standing strong

<div type="image" wfid="234935"></div>

There is a marvel in Maharashtra that is in the middle of the Arabian Sea and is touted as one of the strongest sea ports in India. This is yet another marvel of ancient engineering. 
 
Murud Janjira, or just Janjira, is the famous sea port in Maharashtra, located in Raigad district of the state, just two kilometres away from India’s financial capital, Mumbai. 
 
You can either take a ferry, which is the fastest way from Mumbai to reach the fort, or you can go by road. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Pamban-Bridge-in-Rameswaram-is-an-engineering-marvel-Here-are-5-quick-facts-about-Indias-first-Cantilever-bridge/articleshow/53284383.cms">Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram is an engineering marvel. Here are 5 quick facts about India’s first Cantilever bridge</a> 
 What makes it so famous is that <keyword id="2662590" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Janjira-fort">Janjira fort</keyword> is the only fort which was not captured by the Portuguese, The British, or even the Marathas, who captured most of the forts at the Konkan coast. 
 
Not even Shivaji could conquer it, despite 13 attempts. 
 
It is one-of-the kind as ravaged sea waves and a corrosive environment has still not been able to damage much of the fort, especially the exterior walls, which bear the brunt of the angry sea, every now and then. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-Hanging-Pillar-in-a-16th-Century-temple-is-an-engineering-marvel-and-will-leave-you-in-awe/articleshow/53007239.cms">This Hanging Pillar in a 16th Century temple is an engineering marvel and will leave you in awe</a> 
 
It was constructed by Malik Ambar, a minister in the service of the Sultan of Ahmednagar, towards the end of the 17th Century. 
 
It took 22 years to build this fort on 22 acres of land. 
 
Here are other interesting stories and facts associated with the fort

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Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram is an engineering marvel. Here are 5 quick facts about India’s first Cantilever bridge

Akanksha Jain

Chugging Out To Sea: Five Coast-hugging Train Rides Along Indian Shores

Sanghamitra Mandal

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gets powerful ships to confront adversaries well beyond the Persian Gulf

Benjamin Brimelow

This First Century dam in India is one of the oldest in the world and is still standing strong

Akanksha Jain

This Janjira Fort, just two hours away from Mumbai, is one of the strongest sea forts in India

Akanksha Jain

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