INDIA GROWTH STORY: WATER WAY

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

WATER WAY

THE MUCH AWAITED BANDRA WORLI SEA LINK PROJECT HAS TRIUMPHED DESPITE FACING MANY HURDLES. THE SEA LINK WILL BE OPENED TO PUBLIC TODAY, REPORTS RAHUL KHILNANI

    Mahim Causeway was the only link connecting the island to the western suburbs till date. It is estimated that almost 1, 40,000 vehicles use this route every single day during peak hours, crossing over 23 signals to reach Worli, causing incessant traffic jams. This, however, is all set to change as the much awaited Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL) will open to public today.
    This link aims at alleviation of traffic congestion in Mahim-Dadar-Worli areas besides providing relief at Mahim Causeway.
    The construction of this link, which was conceived in the Wilbur Smith study in 1962 and subsequently recommended
by traffic studies carried out by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, forms the first phase of the Western Freeway extending from Bandra to Nariman point. The project was finally implemented by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.
    BWSL begins at the Mahim Interchange and joins the Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan road. The link connects Bandra to Worli sea face by a 4 km long bridge in the sea and an approach road about 1.6 km long on the Bandra side. The bridge includes two cable stayed bridges of lengths 500 m at Bandra with its pylons rising to a height of 128 m above sea level and a 350 m bridge on the Worli side.
    Apart from this the link also boasts of a modern toll plaza of 16 lanes.
    This colossal project costs around Rs 1,634 crores and aims to save fuel to the tune of Rs 260 crore annually.
SALIENT FEATURES
First such sea link in India First Cable Stayed Bridge of 500 mtr length in India 5.6 km long bridge Four lanes on each side Modern toll plaza Separate lane for BEST buses in each direction Height of the main pylon is 130 mtr, which is equivalent to a 60 storied building Weight of the bridge is equivalent to 50,000 African elephants, each weighing at least 5 tones each. 20,00,000 cement bags were used for this bridge The total length of the bridge is approximately equivalent to the circumference of Earth, around 40,000 km 35,000 M tonnes of steel was used in the project It is noted as one of the miracles out of ten by American Journal Business Week The bridge will be extended from Worli to Haji Ali and then to Nariman point. Constructed by contractor M/s Hindustan Construction Co for MSRDC The Hercules, one of the largest water cranes in the world, was used during the final phase of this project.