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NMMC to refurbish three old foot over bridges
The city engineering department has worked out a nearly 6 cr proposal to revive three of the fobs in both these nodes
Navi Mumbai
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has decided to refurbish three Foot over Bridges (FOB) at Vashi and Koparkhairane, which were in bad condition, following such a demand by residents who continue to use them.
The city engineering department has worked out a nearly 6 cr proposal to revive three of the fobs in both these nodes which are presently in ruinous state. The plans to refurbish are a turn around from the administration’s plans to remove these bridges totally.
The FOBs to be refurbished are: Sector 14 bridge constructed atop the sewerage channel of Vashi, the second bridge is situated in sector 15 bridge near Buddha Pratishthan and the third bridge is in sector 28 Koparkhairane.
“ These FOBs were constructed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and are now over 30 years old therefore are in bad condition. The railings and even the structure as a whole has rusted and could pose danger to people still using it, “said the executive engineer incharge of the project, Ajay Sankhe.
Due to the ruinous state administration earlier had considered doing away with the structure. “The initial plan was to pull down these bridges as these were considered to be no longer needed. However it was observed that the bridge, especially the Vashi based FOBs, is used frequently by residents, especially by school students. This resulted in the administration deciding to get the bridges refurbished, “said a senior official.
In the revised plan , the administration has decided to increase the width of the bridges. Accordingly, the sector 14 based bridge in Vashi will be 12 meter x 2.50 meter, the bridge to be reconstructed in sector 15 of Vashi will be 14 meter x 2.50 meter. The sector 28 Koparkhairane Bridge will be 60 meter long and 3 meter wide.
“One of the primary changes to be made in the structural design will be increasing the width. Of the three, Koparkhairane bridge is the longest and therefore the estimated expenditure in refurbishing is also on the higher side. The construction of all the 3 FOBs is estimated to cost 6 cr. “ said Sankhe.
For longevity purposes, the fobs are to be constructed using stainless steel. “ the bridges earlier were constructed using structural steel which leads to rusting therefore this time the focus is to construct the bridges using stainless steel,” said the official
