MTHL may have open road toll system

The ORT is a system by which toll is collected without the use of traditional toll booths. The ORT, instead, acts as a toll plaza that can identify a vehicle in motion and collect the tax electronically.

The benefits of ORT includes improved commuter experience, gas mileage as well as safety and cost savings, less congestion and reduced vehicle exhaust emissions. The MTHL is proposed to allow commuters to travel signal free from south Mumbai to Navi Mumbai and vice versa in 20 minutes. “To achieve this, the ORT technology will be helpful, as no vehicles  will be required to halt to pay the toll, saving travel time,” said an official.

Meanwhile, a 180-m Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) girder was launched on Wednesday under Package 2 of the MTHL project from Sewri. While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was supposed to launch the girder – weighing 2,300 metric tonnes – he reached the site late.

On the MTHL, 70 OSD are to be launched. So far, 36 have been launched. The OSD is a steel deck superstructure, which will carry the vehicular load more efficiently and improve the load-carrying capacity of the bridge, said MMRDA. A barge has been specifically designed and manufactured to transportation these OSDs.