'Girder Mystery' Ends After 32 Yrs: Mumbai Gets ‘India’s Longest’ Structure on Vidyavihar Rail Overbridge

Ending the 32-year-long wait for residents of Mumbai’s Vidyavihar for east-west connectivity, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) last weekend installed what they called “India’s longest girder on the railway tracks”. Work on the rail overbridge will be completed by 2024.

According to the BMC, it took three hours for installation of the 99.34-meter-long and 9.5-m-wide structure, which weighs 1,100 metric tonnes.

The Central Railway was also involved in the operation and had imposed a mega block between 1:20 am and 4:20 am on Sunday.

The challenge, according to the BMC, was placing it at the exact spot. In the process, the girder was taken over seven active railways track near Vidyavihar station.

The civic body called the “installation without a pillar an engineering marvel”, which was carried out using the ‘winch pulling method’.

THE CHALLENGES

To install the girder, the civic body had to widen the nearby stormwater drain to the east of Vidyavihar railway station. The railway ticket booking houses at both ends (east and west) were shifted. As the bridge was to come up over railway tracks, the railway authorities, too, made some suggestions to the design, which were accommodated. The length of the approach road for this bridge was also increased.

In the second stage of the ROB work, the BMC will launch the second girder of same specifications within the next two months. This will speed up the construction of the ROB.

Rs 178-CRORE PROJECT

According to BMC sources, “The official records show that the east-west connectivity first came up in the 1992 Development Plan (DP) of Mumbai city. But the actual plan for this project was prepared in 2016 and initial work started the same year. The deadline was 2022, but due to technical issues, it was extended to 2024.”

According to local residents, this bridge will certainly improve the east-west connectivity, as they won’t have to go all the way to Ghatkopar.

The cost of the project for the BMC is approximately Rs 178 crore. The BMC officials are confident that once the bridge is completed, it will help reduce the traffic congestion at Vidyavihar, which will further ease the traffic movement in Ghatkopar and on Santacruz-Chembur link road.