BMC launched second girder of Vidyavihar ROB

The width of the bridge above the railway tracks will be 24.30 meters.It also includes sidewalks of 2 meters each on either side. While the access road will have a total width of 17.50 meters. It will include sidewalks of 1 meter each on both sides

The BMC along with the railways between the night of November 5-6 launched the second girder of its Vidyavihar Rail Over Bridge (ROB) project in N ward. It has the largest span measuring approximately 100 meters in length and weighing around 1,100 metric tones.

Mumbai, India - Nov. 5, 2023: The Central Railway carried out a megablock overnight to launch second span of girder for construction of Road Over Bridge (ROB) by BMC at Vidyavihar station in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, November 5, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The subsequent construction of 17.50-meter-wide approach roads on both sides of the bridge will begin in the next phase of the project. The BMC aims to complete the entire project by December 2024.

BMC officials said -the second girder’s installation marks the completion of 90 percent of the project within the railway boundary. The project is being executed by M/s AB Infrabuild Limited.The flyover project, with an estimated cost of approximately ₹178 crores. This flyover connecting Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg and Ramakrishna Chemburkar Marg has a total of two lanes.

In this project with a total length of 630 meters, a 100 meter bridge is being constructed on the railway tracks, while an approach road of 220 meters on the east side and 310 meters on the west side is being constructed.

The width of the bridge above the railway tracks will be 24.30 meters.It also includes sidewalks of 2 meters each on either side. While the access road will have a total width of 17.50 meters. It will include sidewalks of 1 meter each on both sides. The total estimated cost of the said flyover project is around Rs.178 crores. Out of which, the cost of the main flyover on the railway track is around ₹100 crore and the cost of approach road and other works is ₹78 crore.

Railway ticket window room on both sides, station master’s office, staircase have also been reconstructed under this project. Similarly, service road is also included on both sides of the flyover. Reconstruction of Somayya Nalla on the eastern side has also been done as part of the service road work.The BMC has also successfully overcome challenges in airport construction.

The plan of this bridge was prepared in 2016. This bridge was to be built in the year 2022. However, the Railway Ministry’s Research, Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) suggested changes in the design of the bridge.Due to this, there was a change in the layout of the railway area. At the same time, the eastern and western parts of the bridge also had to be changed.

On May 2, 2018, the work order for the construction of the bridge was given. However, in the interim the construction of the project was hindered due to restrictions during the Covid infection period.

Similarly, many challenges were encountered while actually working on the project. These included widening of storm drains, relocation of ticket window booths on both sides of the railway station, eviction of encroachments on the project line.

Along with this, acquiring railway blocks by coordinating the railway administration as per the requirement of works has also proved to be challenging. Overcoming all these challenges, the project is now rapidly moving towards completion.