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Lower Parel's Delisle Bridge on road to become history

Dismantling of the ROB marks the end of an era. DNA takes a peek at its journey to a new beginning

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1) Labourers cut the pillars into 2-2.5 metre-long piers. A pier weighs 4-6 tonne and is lifted using cranes 2) Golden sparks fly as labourers wearing orange reflecting jackets, gloves, boots & helmets weld 3) A worker uses diamond cutting machines to dismantle the bridge
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In 1918, according to the Indian Railways, the engineers from Great Britain fabricated one of the most difficult road over bridges and transported it to Bombay piece by piece in ship. Three years later, voila, one of the most complicated steel bridges was assembled which had walls made of black stone and was 'T' shaped. It connected the heart of mill land. Now, 98 years later its muscles and skeleton are slowly been hived off. In fact by early February it will vanish from face of the earth. DNA tries to capture its essence before it becomes history.

This bridge is above a chaotic street flanked by railway station, chawls, skyscrapers, offices, shops, restaurants, shopping malls, pubs and market. It was named after Lieutenant Le Geyt De Lisle. "He went on to become a General in the Royal Engineers of the Bombay Army. He also played a vital role in developing water supply lines of Tansa and Vihar," remembers historian Deepak Rao. "But if new bridges are required for better transportation then old ones should be demolished. We should keep up with time".

After portion of Andheri's Gokhale bridge collapsed on July 3 last year, it came forth that De Lisle road over bridge is in poor condition. Its steel girders, pillars and under frame supporting the road and footpath had severely corroded. This is how an end to an era begun.

IIT, Rlys inspect, De Lisle bridge shuts

After the collapse of Andheri bridge, soon the Indian Railways decide to inspect 445 bridges in Mumbai and its metropolitan region. They roped in Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) for the inspection which began with immediate effect. On July 24, De Lisle bridge (later named as NM Joshi bridge) became the first to fall, as it was shut for public use --- both pedestrians and motorists. The safety team of engineers from Indian Railways, BMC and IIT-B found this ROB unsafe.

For two days there was trouble and chaos outside Lower Parel railway station. This ROB was a vital pathway to the Lower Parel office district for those travelling by rail and road and the lakhs of pedestrians. An estimated 1200 vehicles used this bridge every hour were stopped from using. On July 27, it was partially opened for pedestrians only and rest was barricaded. Alternate routes were identified for clearing the chaos of those coming out of the station.


(Istock)

Breaking bridge brick by bridge

Barricading of road that is right above the tracks, from all three sides. This was first thing that happened. On August 16, last year the rail authorities began dismantling of Lower Parel ROB, for which a private contractor was appointed. Gradually they began scrapping the road and simultaneously asked various telecommunication companies, gas and electric supply bodies to remove their cables going below the footpath of this bridge. The initial report found that these cables weighed over 100 tonnes which put lot of extra weight on the structure.

The rail authorities had kept a deadline of September 26, to shift these utilities and cables. However it was not cleared. Later on October 10, they issued public notice stating that if these cables are not removed then they shall forcibly disconnect it. This is when work started moving. On the other hand majority of asphalt and tar were scrapped from the face of De Lisle bridge, using heavy-duty drilling machines. The steel skeleton of this bridge was finally exposed.

The work is being carried out on weekends during mega blocks and every night between 1am-4am. The work first began from west side of the bridge --- from the lane going towards Phoenix mills.


(From left to right: A team consisting of engineers from IIT-B, BMC, and Indian Railways visited the site to inspect the condition of the ROB. The team declared it as dangerous; Soon after its inspection, the Delisle Bridge was shut. The area was barricaded preventing pedestrians and motorists from crossing or plying. It was partially opened for pedestrians on July 27, 2018; Workers scraped off asphalt and tar was from the face of De Lisle bridge using heavy-duty drilling machines. The steel skeleton of this bridge was finally exposed/ illustration: Ganesh Gamare)

From pillar to post: A deep fall

On the night of January 10-11, there were 8-10 labourers and handful of engineers working dangerously on this dilapidated ROB. It took two days for them to shift this crane by road from west to east, which was done at night. “We have not seen such a skewed bridge (at 64 degree). Initially, it was difficult to gauge which pillar held how much load,” said a WR official.

Wooden planks have been kept between two pillars --- at places there are empty spaces wherein if one misses step --- can fall 20 feet below on the tracks, get electrocuted with 25000 volt electricity or run over by train. The labourers use something called diamond cutting machines to drill through the steel structure.

There are golden sparks flying; the labourers wearing orange reflecting jacket, gloves, boots and yellow helmet are doing everything to carefully weld it. A thick metal rope hanging by a 250-tonne crane is carefully tied to the pillar that is being cut. At the beginning they cut 5-6 meters long steel piers and tried to lift it using the crane, which was proving strenuous.

This is when the engineers decided to cut them into 2-2.5 meters which weighs around 4-6 tonne. “We have set a target of cutting 3-4 pillars each night,” said another engineer. There are 45 pillars that formed base for the ROB. These vary in length and weight and now things are going to get difficult as there is fight for space parking this gigantic crane. The crane at the site can lift upto 70-80 tonne.
They will also check how sturdy is the footpath towards the tracks and if they will need two crane for the job. “We have kept deadline of February 15 for the dismantling,” said Ravinder Bhakar, Chief PRO, Western Railway.

In near future

re will be a huge hollow, where is sun is finally shining upon the space that was blocked for 98 years by this road over bridge (ROB). For this to happen the Western Railway will be taking a mega block on mid-February. Sources in WR said that the mega block will be for 12-15 hours.

During this period they will finally dismantle the entire bridge. They will however keep the 6 pillars that are right in between the tracks and use them as temporary support of new bridge replacing this. The WR have set a target of 10 months for constructing the new stainless steel bridge, on the same location.
The 26.7-metre-wide bridge will road and footpath. It will be 65 degree skewed and will be 85 metre in length. It will be constructed at a cost of Rs 84 crore. This new bridge will not only cross all five existing railway lines but also the proposed sixth line between Mumbai Central and Borivali.

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