Mumbaikars don't fear, Ghatkopar bridge is safe now

The CR had asked BMC to unload the bridge's footpath of paver blocks and utility lines to relieve pressure

A crucial bridge linking the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) with the arterial LBS Road, the Ghatkopar-Andheri Link Road that passes over all six Central Railway (CR) tracks, has been fortified with additional beams after a 2018 audit revealed dangerous cracks in it.

The columns of the bridge have been strengthened and secured with additional beams. The bridge is safe now. An interim audit with the help of IIT-Bombay was done in July 2018. The VJTI (Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute) had also conducted a detailed structural audit. No portion of the bridge is unsafe," CR's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

The bridge, located at the North end of Ghatkopar railway station, is a link between east and west. It passes over the slow and fast lines and lines five and six meant for express trains. The reinforcements have made the 40- to 50-year-old structure strong enough to last for another decade. The then Member of Parliament from the area, Kirit Somaiya, had visited the site when the cracks in the bridge were discovered.

A joint safety inspection carried out by the railways and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) revealed that the footpath at the Vikhroli-end of the bridge was overburdened with a 400-mm-thick load of paver blocks and utility services like power cables, telephone cables, OFC cables and water pipelines. The bridge had been closed for traffic for 12 hours after the cracks were discovered as the authorities carried out the inspection. The railways had then asked the BMC to get rid of 300-mm-thick unwanted load to relieve the pressure on the footpath.

300mm
Thickness of additional load removed from bridge's footpath

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