Changing City: New cable-stayed bridge coming up at Mumbai’s Byculla

A cable-stayed bridge is coming up at Byculla to strengthen east-west connectivity over the Central railway line at Byculla. It is being constructed by the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (MRIDC) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Details:

– This bridge will be constructed alongside the existing Byculla Bridge, which runs in front of the Mumbai Fire Brigade headquarters.

– The project will be implemented in two phases. Phase 1: Construction of the new cable- stayed bridge. Phase 2: Demolition and reconstruction of the existing bridge.

– Length of bridge: 650 metres

– Cost: Rs 281 crore

– Timeline for completing Phase 1: 350 days

Aim:

– Decongest Byculla area. The new bridge will have a total of four lanes – two southbound lanes and two northbound lanes. This will help decongest traffic in the area.

– The existing old bridge has three lanes. Once it is reconstructed, the total lanes of both bridges will go up to eight, to help decongest traffic.

Beautification plan:

– Signature theme lighting all over the bridge

– Selfie points

Authorities speak:

A spokesperson of MRIDC said that a cable-stayed model was chosen as such bridges require less space for the foundation. To ensure that traffic does not get hampered, the old bridge will not be demolished before the new one becomes operational, the official said.