BMC to launch new Hancock bridge by August end

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced plans to open the reconstructed Hancock bridge in Sandhurst Road by August-end. On Saturday, the bridges

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced plans to open the reconstructed Hancock bridge in Sandhurst Road by August-end. On Saturday, the bridges department set up a 24-metre structural girder at the bridge site along with part of a plate girder.

HT Image

Sanjay Darade, who chief engineer, bridges department, said, “Today we have set up the structural girder of 24 metres with a part of a plate girder. The second part will be completed in another 15 days. After that, with the help of a railway mega-block, we will finish the plasterwork.”

One of the two girders required for the new Hancock bridge arrived in Mumbai on June 11. At 63.8 metres, it is the longest girder to be used on the city’s railway network, according to civic officials. The second girder is expected to arrive soon.

BMC is planning to start traffic on the bridge by the end of August, Darade said. Civic officials said that the new bridge, which is slated to be 64.6-metre-long, will be wider than the earlier one. The bridge will be ready for traffic from both sides after the asphalt work is completed.

The Hancock bridge project has faced several hurdles since inception, and work has progressed at snail’s pace. The firm M/s Jaykumar Infraprojects Pvt Ltd, which had bagged the contract in May 2016 for rebuilding the bridge, had moved the Supreme Court after it was removed from the project after getting embroiled in a road scam. In February 2018, the contract was awarded to Sai Projects, with a target for completion set at 19 months.

The cost of the entire project is ₹52 crore. Hancock bridge, which was originally built in 1879 near Sandhurst Road railway station, connects Mazgaon to the Western parts of the city. It was demolished in January 2016 after being declared unsafe.