The Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (MRIDC) will construct Cable Stayed Bridge to replace the existing 127-year-old Bellasis Road ROB located between Mumbai Central and Grant Road Railway station. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has entrusted the responsibility of reconstruction of old 11 ROBs and 1 RUB to MRIDC. Accordingly, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between MRIDC and MCGM on 14th July 2020.
Conceptual plan of the proposed new Cable Stayed bridge
The width of the existing carriageway caters to 3 lanes of traffic. The total length of ROB is approximately 380 m (inclusive of approaches) with Superstructure comprising of Steel Girders. The new proposed Cable Stayed Bridge by the Corporation shall solve the increasing demand of traffic flow on the busiest junctions i.e. Tardeo Junction in the west and Nagpada Junction in the east of Mumbai Central Railway Station.
Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal, Managing Director of MRIDC informed that – The new Bridge will have 6 lanes carriageway for smooth flow of traffic in place of existing 3 lanes. With the increasing lanes, traffic jam on this route will be eliminated and traffic flow will become much smoother. The corporation plans to complete the construction in a period of 650 days.”
He further added saying that MRIDC has designed architectural LED lightings all over the bridge which shall give an aesthetic appeal to this area. This shall promote tourism as well and will be considered as a matter of pride for local people. Additionally, to attract citizens a ‘Selfie Point’ has been planned at a convenient safe location on the bridge.
Here are some noteworthy points to be highlighted:
- Start and end points of proposed ROB will be same as per the existing ROB.
- Controlled demolition of existing ROB will be done lastly with minimum Rail traffic blocks.
- Vertical clearance for the new proposed Cable Stayed Bridge will be as per Railway standard.
- The existing vertical clearance is hardly 5m above the Rail top level and this proposal caters for providing an enhanced vertical clearance of 6.525 m above Rail line.
- Capacity augmentation with the provision of 6 lanes bridge.
The new bridge will cater to the traffic flow between Tardeo Junction and Nagpada Junction
Construction Scheme:
- The pylons are provided beyond the Railway line besides the existing structure in such a way that the nearby existing buildings will not face any blockages till construction of pylons.
- The size of the pylon and foundation are provided to ensure least hindrance to the existing structure.
- Area in the vicinity of pylon required for placing tower Crane/slip form will be also minimized to have minimal impact on existing nearby buildings.
- Fabrication of Steel Superstructure will start simultaneously at fabrication yard and it will be transported to the site.
- Derrick crane/Gantry will ply on the deck segments to construct the Cable Stayed superstructure.
- U shaped trough deck sheets are proposed at deck level to minimize the construction period.
- Construction of abutment can also be taken up at the same time as they are placed outside Railway boundary.
- The estimated cost of the new Cable Stayed Bridge is approximately Rs 140 Crore.
3D representation of the proposed Cable Stayed Bridge
Construction Sequence:
The construction of Main carriageway Cable Stayed Bridge and approaches will be constructed in two stages.
Stage 1:
Construction of ROB spans.
- The fabrication of steel super structure of Cable Stayed Bridge, construction of pylon & abutment will be taken up simultaneously. At this stage of construction, the traffic will be diverted on alternative routes.
Stage 2:
Construction of the solid approaches provided on both side of ROB and merging with existing approach to match the levels.
Night view of the new proposed Cable Stayed Bridge
About MahaRail:
Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (MRIDC or MahaRail) a Joint Venture of “Government of Maharashtra” and “Ministry of Railways” on 50:50 basis with an objective to provide a boost to the Rail Infrastructure Projects in Maharashtra by providing critical connectivity and capacity enhancement.
MRIDC’s aim is to identify the traffic potential of different regions of the state including Rail connectivity to the neighboring states and to find out economically viable projects and implement them with fast track quality construction and commissioning.
Source: MRIDC-Press Release
