Last stretch of Santacruz Chembur Link Road in Mumbai nears completion, aims for pre-monsoon opening

Twin 54-meter composite girders were launched over the Vakola Nallah bridge. This was a challenging task, as each of the girders weighed 358 metric tonnes, and conventional support systems were not present for the launching. Each of the girders had a length of 54m, width of 8.5m, and a depth of 3.13m. Two cranes, of capacity 700 MT and 500 MT were used to do the task.

Even as the extension of the SCLR to the Western Express Highway was opened last August, it has not been the panacea to traffic as expected.

All hopes have now shifted onto the final extension, which offers a quick ride from the Western Express Highway at Vakola to the SCLR and beyond, offering a time saving of 35 minutes.

“This arm, though a shorter segment, plays a decisive role in integrating multiple elevated arms, bridges and connectors—effectively completing the full SCLR network,” said the MMRDA in a statement.

With this final arm, the entire 10.88km of the SCLR will complete the east-west connector. Offering signal free connectivity between the Western Express High and the Eastern Express Highway, the SCLR also connects both the suburbs to the central business district of BKC. It also promises to decongest areas of Santacruz, Vakola, Kalina, Kurla and Chembur.