City’s 2nd cable-stayed bridge to be ready next month

Although the commissioning of the Mumbai Metro may still be a long way off, Mumbaikars can take comfort in the completion of another architectural wonder by July 15.

Although the commissioning of the Mumbai Metro may still be a long way off, Mumbaikars can take comfort in the completion of another architectural wonder by July 15.

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A month from now, a six- storey-high cable-stayed bridge gliding and crossing over the existing Jog flyover on Western Express Highway at Andheri is expected to be ready. It is the city’s second cable-stayed bridge after the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

The bridge is part of the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd’s (MMOPL) Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro line. The bridge will allow the metro to travel over the Jog Flyover which is around 13 metres high. The Metro will be at a height of 19.5m above the road. The highest point of the bridge is 39m from the road surface.

The bridge had to be constructed as the method of constructing a viaduct on piers was not possible on the stretch which bypasses the highway and sees over 1.2 lakh vehicles daily.

To tide over the problem, the cable-stayed bridge, held together by two Y-shaped pylons weighing over 1000 tonnes, was planned. The steel cables which hold and support the bridge are anchored to these massive pylons. “We will be completing this entire bridge by the middle of July,” a senior Reliance Infrastructure official said.

Construction on the Rs16- crore bridge had begun in 2009. The bridge is being made with the help of VSL, a Switzerland-based company that specialises in construction of cable-stayed bridges. MMOPL is building the Rs2,356-crore Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Line, the first Metro line in the city, likely to be completed by March 2013.