The 136-metre steel girder for the bow-string arch bridge, which is to be erected to link the Mumbai Coastal Road with Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL), arrived in Worli in the wee hours of Thursday. The girder, weighing up to 2,000 MT, was transported via the Arabian Sea from the Nhava Sheva jetty in Raigad, 65 km from Worli.
As per Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), this will be India’s longest arch bridge that will pass through an open sea.
“The girders arrived in Mumbai around 4 am Thursday. At first the barges will be affixed and centered in a particular position using winches to prevent them from drifting away. After they are centered, they will be hoisted and erected on Thursday night when tidal conditions are neither high nor low,” said an official. The process of launching girders will take more than two hours, the officials said.
After the girders are launched, authorities will concretise them in order to lay asphalt roads, following a process of waterproofing. Officials said that the balance work will take around one month. “This girder will be the main access point for vehicles to enter and exit the coastal road from BWSL. Launching the girder will mark the end of the project’s final step,” the official said.
The girder was initially supposed to be launched between April 18–19, but with Mumbai reeling under a heatwave the drive was deferred by a week.
The girders are prefabricated structures and the launch is being taken up in waters since there is no adequate land strip available in Worli.
The making of this bridge was a major hurdle for civic authorities to overcome in their endeavour to complete the MCRP project.
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The main bone of contention between the fishing community and BMC was the gap to be maintained between the pillars on which the bridge was to be created. The fishing community demanded that the gap be 200 metres, while BMC’s was confident that 60 metres would provide them a safe passage.
Following the dischord, the fisherfolk went on a strike and BMC had to revise the plan and remove one pillar to provide a wider navigation span to the boats. Since engineers could not erect an additional pillar, and the distance between the existing mono-piles increased owing to removal of one pillar, the civic body opted for a ‘bow-string’ girder bridge.
The speciality of such arch bridges is that spans are held together through high-tension chords instead of having a base support such as pillars. The chord forms an arch shaped girder from the outside and holds the ends of the bridge tightly with the surface.
At present the coastal road is operational only between 8 am and 8 pm on weekdays for south-bound traffic and officials are planning to have the entire road operational by May-end.
Pratip Acharya is a seasoned journalist based in Mumbai reporting for The Indian Express. With a career spanning over a decade, his work demonstrates strong Expertise and Authority in critical urban issues, civic affairs, and electoral politics across Eastern and Western India.
Expertise & Authority
Current Role: Journalist, The Indian Express (IE), reporting from Mumbai.
Core Authority: Pratip's reporting focuses sharply on local democracy and development, specializing in:
Urban Governance and Civic Affairs: Providing in-depth analysis of municipal decision-making, city planning, and local infrastructure, essential for informed urban reporting.
City Politics and Environment: Covering the political dynamics of Mumbai and surrounding areas, alongside critical environmental challenges impacting the metro region.
Electoral Coverage (High-Stakes Experience): He has extensive experience in high-stakes political reporting, having covered major elections, establishing his Trustworthiness in political analysis:
National: Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019.
State: West Bengal Assembly elections in 2016 and Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2019.
Major Assignments (Ground Reporting): Pratip demonstrated commitment during crises by conducting ground reporting throughout the Covid-19 pandemic since its breakout in 2020, offering first-hand accounts and analysis of the public health crisis.
Experience
Extensive Experience: Starting his career in 2014, Pratip has built his foundation across multiple prominent English dailies:
Started at The Times of India in Kolkata (2014).
Relocated to Mumbai (2016) and worked with The Free Press Journal and Hindustan Times before joining The Indian Express.
Pratip Acharya's diverse experience across major publications, coupled with his specialized focus on the intricate details of urban governance and a track record of covering major electoral and health crises, establishes him as a trusted and authoritative source for news from India's critical metropolitan centres. ... Read More
