29 January,2019 08:03 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
The bridge built by the Indian Army was thrown open to the public last year
The Central Railway has finally managed to find a solution to the unique challenge posed by the Indian Army-built Bailey-design bridge at Parel. Unable to decode the Lego blocks-like design of the bridge for opening it up for an additional staircase landing, the railways have now built a pathway from the end of the bridge and connected it to the new platform.
The Central Railway has built a pathway at the end of the bridge, perpendicular to it
The sideways-solution
The Indian Army had built a Bailey-design bridge (a bridge assembled with two-force modular parts or 'truss', something like Lego blocks) following the stampede at the Elphinstone Road bridge in September 2017. Opening up another staircase to this bridge meant matching the standards and specifications of its original design.
Carried it sideways on the platform
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With a new platform coming up at Parel, the railways had been mulling over this issue. "We found a solution by building a new elevated pathway from one end of the army bridge, moving sideways, and then crossing the tracks to land on the new platform. This way we do not need to open the complicated bridge, but still give it landing access on the new platform," a senior official said. The basic structure of the pathway is ready and work should be completed in February itself along with the work of Parel Terminus, he added.
A Central Railway spokesperson said that at present, only the CSMT-bound slow train platform has a landing. "We are providing the new landing for Kalyan-bound slow trains at the north end of the platform," he said.
Across the tracks on to the new platform for a landing
Bridge of steel
The Army footover bridge at Parel-Elphinstonea Road spans a length of 73.1 metres and a width of 3.65 metres and has been constructed at a cost of Rs 10.44 crore by the Indian Army in a record time of 117 days. It was built on a war footing by the Ministry of Defence.
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