Change in design of bridge over Mithi river may delay metro 2B again
While 75% work on the 23.64-km corridor connecting Andheri West with Mandale in Mankhurd via Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is complete, the change in design of the crucial bridge may once again delay the final deadline for completion beyond December 2025
Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has decided to change the design of a bridge over Mithi river which is part of the Metro 2B corridor owing to “engineering and technical challenges” in the older design. While 75% work on the 23.64-km corridor connecting Andheri West with Mandale in Mankhurd via Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is complete, the change in design of the crucial bridge may once again delay the final deadline for completion beyond December 2025.
When work on the Metro 2B corridor commenced in 2017, MMRDA had planned a cable-stayed arch bridge over Mithi river. “Construction for the cable-stayed bridge had begun, but had to be stopped as we encountered engineering and technical challenges that remained unresolved for a long time,” said an MMRDA source. A spokesperson of Spannovation Consulting India, the company appointed to redesign the bridge, also confirmed that work on the bridge was stopped midway owing to “technical challenges”.
“The foundation and portions of the substructure were constructed in accordance with the original design, but progress on the superstructure was delayed due to unresolved technical challenges,” said the spokesperson, explaining why the cable-stayed arch bridge had to be scrapped in favour of a simpler, segmental balanced cantilever design.
MMRDA sources and the Spannovation spokesperson did not explain what engineering and technical challenges were encountered which forced a redesign of the crucial bridge. It is also not known if the foundation and substructure can be utilised for the new design.
While the Metro 2A corridor between Dahisar East and Andheri West (DN Nagar) was operationalised earlier last year, the 2B corridor connecting Andheri West with Mandale has run into problems repeatedly in the past, pushing back the tentative deadline for completion by more than four years.
In 2017, Simplex Infrastructure was awarded the contract to construct the 5.87-km portion of the metro line between MTNL junction (BKC) and Chembur, but the contract was terminated as only 5% work was completed in 30 months. In 2022, a fresh contract for the portion was awarded to NCC following a re-bid.
“The completion of this bridge is of critical importance to MMRDA as it represents a significant bottleneck in the timely execution of the corridor,” said the Spannovation spokesperson.
The initial deadline for the metro 2B corridor was 2021, but presently, the 5-km stretch between Mandale and Diamond Garden in Chembur is slated for completion by June 2025 while the remaining stretch is slated for completion in December 2025. The redesign of the bridge over Mithi may push back the deadline further, said MMRDA sources.
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