Arch Bridge for Mumbai Coastal Road Project sets sail, expected at Worli Site

MUMBAI: The 2,000-metric-ton arch bridge, a critical component of the Mumbai Coastal Road project, set sail from Mazagon Dock's Nhava unit at 12:30 pm on Wednesday. The plans are to commence the erection of the bridge by the morning of April 26 with the next day i.e. April 27 kept as a contingency in case of weather conditions not supporting the errecting that is planned on April 26.

Meanwhile, by Wednesday evening, the arch bridge had already passed Colaba along the western shore and was expected to arrive at the project’s Worli site by late Wednesday night.

As the barge does not have its own engine it is being pulled by tugs. Officials from Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and Hyundai Development Corporation (HDC) , a joint venture which is involved in works, said that the main tug is for pulling while other two on sides for supporting the barge during voyage. Freight Wings Pvt. Ltd. is involved in providing the solutions like jack up, lifting, loadout, barge, marine transportation, and erection for all bridges of this project.

This arch bridge would connect the right hand side arm of the Mumbai coastal road with the Bandra Worli sea link. The earlier plan was to shift the span from Mazagon Dock's Nhava Unit on April 21 which had to be postponed owing to the unsuitable climatic conditions. The arch bridge is travelling on a barge for a total of 62 kms.

Apart from the RHS arch bridge which is 2000 metric tons there is also another Left Hand Side (LHS) similar bridge that is of another 2,400 metric tons weight. Apart from this there are also other spans also of 44 metres, 60 metres and 46 metres taking the total steel requirement for all of it to 7000 metric tons. The required steel for the bridges were sourced from two plants namely Jindal Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India.