After five years, BMC partially opens Delisle ROB for traffic

The Delisle ROB is a crucial link connecting Lower Parel, Worli, Prabhadevi and Currey Road in the west with Lalbaug and Byculla in the east. Traffic in the region had for years been affected, especially in Parel, Dadar TT and Mahalaxmi due to the closure of the bridge on July 24, 2018, after it was declared unsafe by IIT Bombay

Mumbai: After a five-year wait and missing two deadlines, the west arm of the Delisle rail overbridge (ROB) in Lower Parel was reopened for traffic on June 1, bringing much-needed relief to motorists and residents alike.

Mumbai, India - June 01, 2023: One arm of Delisle Bridge opened for traffic after five years. The bridge which serves as a major link connecting Lower Parel, Worli and Prabhadevi, in the West, with Currey Road, Lalbaug and Byculla, in the East, was shut down in 2018, after IIT-Bombay, which studied the structure in the wake of the Gokhale Bridge collapse, said it was corroded, at Lower Parel, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, June 01, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

The Delisle ROB is a crucial link connecting Lower Parel, Worli, Prabhadevi and Currey Road in the west with Lalbaug and Byculla in the east. Traffic in the region had for years been affected, especially in Parel, Dadar TT and Mahalaxmi due to the closure of the bridge on July 24, 2018, after it was declared unsafe by IIT Bombay.

“The west arm of the bridge which connects Ganpatrao Kadam Marg to NM Joshi Marg has been opened. Commuters coming from GK Marg or Phoenix mall are faced with traffic congestion. Those travelling to and from Phoenix mall to Dadar and vice-versa will get relief,” said a civic official from the bridges department.

The official also informed the total estimated cost for opening the west arm was around ₹60 crore. The Delisle bridge work will be fully completed by July end depending on the monsoon.

The work on the service road below the constructed bridge and storm water drain is underway.

“We were waiting for the railways to finish their work on girders and deciding on the level by November last year. To connect our span with the railway girder took a long time from November last year until May 31 this year but our ancillary works on the left (west)arm of the bridge were completed,” he said.

The BMC had earlier missed the May 2022 and December 2022 deadlines but had targeted May 31, 2023, to complete the west arm of the project. The BMC had said the delay in the project was also due to an inadequate supply of gravel coming from ready-mix concrete plants in Navi Mumbai, owing to which the bridge work took a hit and coupled with the fact that there was a shortage of water tankers which had also affected the project.

The reconstruction of the deck slab casting for both open web girders was completed in January. The painting of open web girders and the casting of anti-crash barriers and footpaths was also finished and the work of concrete and mastic asphalt took another 20-25 days.

This work order was issued in January 2020.

After the closure of the Gopal Krishna Gokhale bridge in Andheri, the Delisle ROB was shut for traffic and pedestrians on July 24, 2018, when it was declared unsafe by IIT-Bombay experts. Its closure had caused immense inconvenience to motorists and local residents, disrupting the traffic in Parel, Dadar TT and Mahalaxmi for the last five years.

The western side of Lower Parel (Delisle ROB Road) bridge comprising Lower Parel, Worli, Prabhadevi and Currey Road, Byculla has been opened for motorists from June 1. The remaining phased east bound bridge will open to full capacity for traffic by the end of July 2023.

The road from Lower Parel at Senapati Bapat Marg Junction to Ganpatrao Kadam Marg to Urmi Estate and Peninsula Corporate Park has been opened as per traffic police.

Also the Western Railway workshop on NM Joshi Marg and the road towards Dadar have been opened for traffic. Some works in the eastern direction of Delisle ROB Bridge work are expected to be completed in the coming period. In this, ramps for transport as well as works like concretization, asphalting, street lights,painting etc. are included.

The bridge reconstruction work at Lower Parel is being done by Western Railway and BMC’s bridge department. Instead of an old plate girder in the railway part, new two open web girder or bridge structures have been constructed. For the safety of the bridge and pedestrians to cross the railway part, footpaths have been tied on the outer side of the open web girder.

The work of reconstruction of Lower Parel bridge was the biggest challenge in the entire project to install two girders of length 90 meters with weight 1100 tonnes. After that, the southern part was handed over to the BMC in October 2022 for demolition. The Western Railway launched the first steel girder on June 22, and the second girder on 24 September,2022. At present, 87 percent work of Lower Parel bridge has been completed. The remaining work is expected to be completed by end of July 2023.