3 min readMumbaiJul 16, 2023 02:11 PM IST
First published on: Jul 6, 2023 at 09:07 PM IST
Amid misgivings from people over the delay in opening the Gopal Krishna Gokhale bridge in Andheri, BJP MLA Ameet Satam announced on Thursday that the bridge’s girder over the railway portion will be launched by September-end and assembling work is set to begin from August.
On Thursday morning, a delegation of civic officials led by P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (projects), along with Satam, who is Andheri MLA, inspected the bridge site. Following this, Satam said that the work of piling is nearing completion.
As this bridge passes above railway tracks in the western suburbs, the piling work is being carried out jointly by the civic body along with the railway department, while the contractor for constructing this new bridge was appointed by the civic body.
“The work on BMC’s portion will be fully completed by month-end and work on two piers on the railway portion is in progress and will be finished by end of July,” said Satam.
“The assembling of girders will start in August and the launch of the girder above the railway portion will be completed by September, following which it will be linked with the BMC portion. After this slab and concretising work will be taken up,” he said.
Meanwhile, civic officials privy to this development said that the bridge will be partially opened for vehicular movement by Diwali.
“There are a total of six lanes on the bridge, with three lanes on each side. We will be opening three lanes by Diwali this year, while the remaining part will be opened by the end of this year,” said an official.
Gokhale Bridge, a primary east-west link in the western suburbs, was dismantled due its poor structural health. Since the bridge passed over railway lines, the bridge was dismantled part by part in phases between December and March.
The BMC had earlier set a deadline of reopening the bridge partially by the end of May, while it planned on reopening the entire bridge for public use by October end.
However, in April the civic body formally announced that the bridge will be opened by the end of November, since there was a delay in supply of raw materials due to a strike in one of the plants of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). Meanwhile, officials maintained that the issue of steel has been resolved now.
Meanwhile, civic officials privy to this development said that the bridge will be partially opened for vehicular movement by Diwali. (File photo) 
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