(Source of the image: Brajeshwar at Flickr)
The Sea-giant is finally here!
March 11, 2008
The
Bandra Worli Sea Link is undoubtedly one of the glorious projects that will come up in Mumbai by the end of 2008.
A dream turned into reality is what may best define this enormous project. However implementation of this project hasn't been one easy for BMC and MMRDA. "30 years of dreams, 6 years of implementation!" Yes that's right. This project has been planned for more than 30 years. However its implementation only came about in 2003. It was expected to complete in 4 years by 2007. However due to political crisis, the project has been delayed and its still half-way left to be completed.
For Mumbaikars traveling from northern suburbs to downtown Bombay is a nightmare. Forget about traveling in trains that are already jam-packed, traveling by roads is more of time-consuming because of the unorganized roads and traffic in Mumbai. Roads are becoming parking lots. New cars come up in the city every single day adding to the puzzle.
After many talks and disputes the project finally came about in 2003. The project was undertaken by Hindustan Construction Company (
HCC) and the Dar Consultants. The project is an elevated expressway that will connect the northern suburbs at Bandra with Downtown Bombay at Worli End. The expressway will be 4 km and 4.7 km long. Each carriageway will have 4 lanes going each way. The weight of the bridge will be held by the stay cables supported by a pair of towers built on Bandra Side and two pair of smaller towers built on worli side. It is said that the length of the wires used in the construction is far enough to encircle the Earth.
The project will be completed in different portions:
The second portion will consist of two stayed-cable towers at Bandra end and four stayed-cable towers at Worli End. The two towers will be each around 128 meters high or as tall as a 43 storey building. As many as 264 strong steel cables will flanked from these two towers and they will hold the weight of the bridge. The spacing between each cable is 6 meters. The Worli End will consists two pairs of smaller towers. The towers will once again flank around 160 cables connected with the bridge. These towers wil be elevated to 55 meters above the bridge deck.
- "The third portion of the bridge is similar to the North end approach structure in construction methodology with span by span match cast concrete box girder sections. Similar to the north end approach detailed, access ramps shall be provided for connection to the western freeway i.e. extension upto Nariman Point." (Quoted from the website).
The update year to date of the Bandra Worli Sea Link directly from the website:
The Bandra Worli Sea Link is a blessing in disguise for the Mumbaikars. Start of this sea link will provide some relief to them, however, it won't be a total solution for them. Mumbai at this time needs a rapid infrastructure development with the projects need to complete on time.
(Editing still required. Please check back in later for more details on this project).