In 1964 a cyclone wrecked the Pamban bridge to Rameswaram. The railways gave six months to fix it. Sreedharan was put in charge and did it in 46 days.
He later built the Konkan Railway through some of the hardest terrain in the country, and then the Delhi Metro, which opened ahead of schedule and roughly on budget. In India, that alone made him famous.
His methods were not exciting. Clear deadlines, a countdown clock in the office, no tolerance for corruption, and a small team that was allowed to make decisions.