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MUMBAI — In the first experiment of its kind in the country, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has successfully connected the upcoming Mumbai Coastal Road (MCR) with the existing Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL) using 'tidal waves conditions' in the Arabian Sea, officials said here on Friday.
The significant milestone was achieved by successfully installing the first, gigantic 136 metres long Bow Arch String Girder, made of steel, weighing around 2,000 tonnes at 3.25 a.m. (Friday morning) linking the two important routes in south Mumbai through India's biggest 'arch bridge'.
BMC Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, Additional Municipal Commissioner Amit Saini and other officials witnessed the engineering marvel completed after a nail-biting effort of 85 minutes in the wee hours as Mumbai slept, and the massive girder 18-21 metres wide, fell into place.
The girder commenced its voyage on a 25,000 tonnes barge from Mazagon Docks on Wednesday at 12.30 p.m. and reached the Worli bay at 4 a.m. the next day, awaiting the further process.
Keeping vigil on the existing tidal conditions there, the work of setting up the girder was taken up at 2 a.m. today (April 26), it was gradually brought to the midpoint of the MCR and the BWSL on the barge, and expertly stabilised amid the sea waves and the winds to ensure optimal conditions for the final setup.
For this, the engineering teams had set up four 'mating units', two each on the MCR and the BWSL measuring 2 metre and 1.8 metre cones, and they were precisely mated at 3.25 a.m., completing the connectivity, amid a huge round of applause, cheers and cries of 'hip hip hurray'.
After the girder was in place, the barge below it sailed off, paving the way for asphalting and water-proofing the girder to prepare the road on which thousands of vehicles will zoom on it in the next few weeks.
The mammoth girder was manufactured in pre-fab parts at a unit in Ambala, Haryana, and with the help of 500 trailer trucks, transported to the Mazagon Docks, where it was assembled using advanced welding technology, and then commenced its 62-km long sea-voyage to the Bandra Worli Sea Link.
Now, the engineers will erect jacks on all the four corners of the girder and once the jacks are activated, the mating cones and units will be removed, the girder will be settled using bearings after which even jacks shall be removed.
After this process is completed, the cement concretisation of the girder using anti-corrosive C-5 Japanese technology, will be taken up.
The south-bound arm of the MCR was inaugurated in March, but it was not yet connected to the sea link for its onward phases till Borivali at the north-west tip of Mumbai.
Simultaneously, a second similar colossal girder, 143 metres long and 26-29 metres wide, has already arrived in Mumbai for the northern arm of MCR, and is likely to be installed near the BWSL by mid-May.
These two girders will fully complete the connectivity, enable vehicles in both directions to enter-exit the BWSL from the MCR and ensure smooth, fast and signal-free traffic movement.