End of an era: Mumbai’s Elphinstone Bridge is gone, but its soul lives on

The 112yearold Elphinstone Bridge was consigned to the history books at 714 am on Sunday with the structurersquos last spans removed during a block executed by Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited MahaRail on Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday As exclusively highlighted by midday last week the new bridge is ready at Noida and will be transported to the city in parts and assembled like Lego piecesA plaque from the old structureIn a finely choreographed overnight operation earlier this week the Railways began executing the final removal of the remaining Elphinstone Road road overbridge ROB panels above the busy ParelCurrey Road section mdash while keeping the 25 kV overhead equipment OHE perfectly stable using beams as the support systems Central Railway CR had on Wednesday announced special traffic and power blocks to facilitate the dismantling of panels of the Elphinstone ROBThe stretch in Parel where the work took place on Sunday PICASHISH RAJEThe dismantling work by the authorities was being carried out between Parel railway station and Currey Road railway station As per a statement the blocks were carried out over two consecutive nights April 23 and April 34 primarily during midnight hours on the section between Byculla railway station excluding crossovers and Dadar railway station excluding platformsThe new bridgegtgt Doubledeck bridge upper for elevated corridor lower for local trafficgtgt Four lanes on each deck pedestrian path on lower deckgtgt Openweb steel girder design over rail tracksgtgt Completion target 2027gtgt Executing agency MRIDCTrain disruptionsThere were train disruptions and crowding on Sunday The ElphinstonePrabhadevi block was accompanied by another ongoing special traffic and power block for the extension of platforms at Thane and Dombivli stations to accommodate 15car trainsSuburban services between Thane and Dombivli remained intermittently cancelled amid the block leading to fewer trains running and crowded platform on Sunday As the Dombivli and Thane blocks ended the pressure was eased though disruptions continued through the dayThe overcenturyold Elphinstone bridge is dismantled between Saturday night and Sunday morning PICSBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTThe new Prabhadevi bridgeThe structure will comprise two levels The lower deck will cater to regular eastwest traffic with two lanes on each side and pedestrian footpaths while the upper one will form part of the SewriWorli Elevated Connector linking to the BandraWorli Sea Link and the upcoming coastal and eastern freeway corridors The portion spanning the rail lines will use openweb steel girders to allow wider spans and reduce interference with rail operations below The bridge is expected to ease congestion in the ParelPrabhadevi beltKey challengesgtgt Presence of highrises restricting crane movement and lifting operationsgtgt Narrow approach on the western side of the abutmentgtgt Heavily corroded and dustfilled bearings making cutting difficultgtgt Cutting at critical locations took approximately an hour and 15 minutesgtgt Handling an aged structure with uncertain residual strengthDismantling strategyThe dismantling was executed in a phased manner due to the complexity of the structure and operational constraints The following elements were removedgtgt Deck slabgtgt Bracketsgtgt Pipelines and cablesgtgt Footpath parapets and accessoriesExecution plan for major blocksgtgt 6 major traffic and power blocks were plannedgtgt Coordination with MRIDCL to reduce block durationPhased executiongtgt For the first five days fourhour blocks were taken dailygtgt Removal of one panel per daygtgt Shifting of OHE using beams and hangers placed over girder topsMega block execution April 45gtgt The final mega block included the following critical activitiesgtgt Removal of 8 longitudinal beams used for temporary OHE shiftinggtgt Dismantling of two main girders 37 m span 25 MT eachgtgt Using 800 MT capacity crane positioned outside railway boundaryMachinery and resources deployedgtgt 800 MT telescopic crane main liftinggtgt 700 MT crane standbygtgt 500 MT crane support operationsgtgt Hydra machines for material shiftinggtgt 4 vehicles for staff movement SM Dadar amp CSMT coordinationgtgt 4 railway tower wagons for OHE workgtgt 60 contractor labourersgtgt 10 OHE staff per tower wagongtgt 1015 gas cutters and welding machinesElphinstone bridgersquos last bowYear the bridge was built 1913Span 3700 m in CR sectionTotal width 1353 m