BMC install final girder for bowstring bridge connecting coastal road with BWSL

The arch-shaped girder weighs around 2,000 MT, and is 136 metres long. The girder is a prefabricated structure that was manufactured in Haryana and was transported to the Nhava Sheva port in Raigad, 65 KM away from Worli, where it was assembled. Following this, the girders were transported from the port to the Worli work site in a barge that arrived at the worksite on Sunday evening.

The first girder was launched on April 26, and officials said that now with both girders having been launched, waterproofing and concretising work is underway, following which asphalt roads will be made. The completion of the work will take one more month, officials told The Indian Express.

At present, the coastal road is operational only between Worli and Marine Drive and is catering to south bound traffic only during the weekdays. The second (southbound) arm is expected to be opened after the imposed code of conduct for the ongoing elections expires.

The making of this bridge had major hurdles that civic authorities had to overcome in order to complete the project.

The fishing community demanded that the gap between the pillars on which the bridge is being created should be 200 metres, while the BMC’s recommendation was 60 metres would provide them a safe passage.

Following which the fisherfolk went on strike and the BMC had to revise the plan, removing one pillar to provide a wider navigation span to the boats. Since the engineers cannot erect an additional pillar and the distance between the existing mono-piles have increased owing to removal of one pillar, the civic body resorted to the design of a ‘Bow-String’ girder bridge.

The speciality of these kinds of arch bridges is that the spans are held together through high-tension chords instead of having a base support like pillars. The chord forms an arch shaped girder from the outside and holds the ends of the bridge tightly with the surface.