Mumbai's Western Railway Division is in the last leg of completing the Delisle Bridge to be set up in Lower Parel that will cover the rail portion by mid this year. The Delisle Bridge is being built as a replica of Kolkata's Howrah Bridge.
According to WR officials, the engineers, after primary study, found the need to strengthen the design of this web-like structure further and for that its last piece is being fabricated in Rajasthan's Kota.
“In order to further strengthen the Delisle Bridge, fabrication work is underway in Kota,” said a WR official.
This steel structure will be placed on top of the girder having triangular interlink for this three-way bridge. It will then be brought and assembled with the existing web-like structure.
Once complete, it will be installed by August this year. This will end the work on the railway portion above the rail tracks. It is a complicated work as there are two curves – one going straight towards Lower Parel Railway Workshop and the other taking a steep curve leading towards Phoenix Mall. The railway stations of Currey Road and Lower Parel will also be connected with this bridge.
However, the entire bridge will not be ready for motorists before next year which will be connected with the road. The railway officials said that once this work on the girder is complete, they will place it during a mega block. After this, the BMC will connect it with an approach road which is expected to be ready by the year 2023, said officials. Sources said that the overall work will take more six to eight months.
During an inspection in 2018, the Road Over Bridge was found to be weak and so in July 2018, it was shut for vehicular traffic. In February 2019, the WR dismantled the ROB and pulled it down in just five months. One of the most difficult tasks was to remove the old pillars that linked the steel bridge which was fitted during the British era.
The earlier deadline to complete the work on the new ROB was June 2021, which was later changed to May 2022. The entire project has been pegged at Rs 87 crore. Work was delayed after the second Covid-19 wave hit the city in April 2021.
The medical oxygen cylinders that are used for infrastructure projects had to be used in hospitals to treat patients which impacted the construction of the ROB. Also, the availability of workers became a problem due to the pandemic, hence delaying the process for over for almost two years.
