On one side of the shut Road Over Bridge - the road leading to Elphinstone Road - there were few playing cricket in the middle of the road.
From Monday, the Delisle ROB in Lower Parel will be demolished after it was closed down for public from July 24. On Sunday, workers were seen cutting the metal barricades kept on the footpath, removing asphalt on the road. On one side of the shut Road Over Bridge - the road leading to Elphinstone Road - there were few playing cricket in the middle of the road.
This part of the road is barricaded with metal sheets from the main girder on which preliminary work begun on Sunday. Sources in the Western Railway said that they will first remove the iron fencing from the footpath which is right above the rail lines near the Lower Parel station.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been given time till August 20 to remove the essential public utility cables and ducts. The Railways had informed that if this would not be done, then they shall remove and shift these cables, wires, ducts etc. passing through this bridge, on their own.
The WR authorities have finalised the contractor who will demolish and dismantle this ROB in 3 months. Gradually the JCB machines will come and break open the asphalt. The preparatory work like removal of fencing, tiles and kerb stones using gas cutters and small JCBs has begun on the Delisle ROB. The tender for dismantling the ROB was awarded at Rs 7.22 crore.
After asphalt on the bridge is removed, 60cms thick concrete will be taken off. There is no metal sheets or rods in between and so this will be very difficult to penetrate even with JCB machines. These cement concrete will be cut into slabs. A mesh fence will be spread under the portion which is undergoing demolition and dismantling. Once this is complete the girders will be cut into 54 parts and then taken off using gas cutters.
According to senior railway officials, the details of the dismantling work are being finalised and will be sent to the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) for approval. "We will have to take several blocks during night to undertake dismantling of this bridge". Demolition of this ROB is a challenge as it curves 64 degrees above the tracks. The engineers are unsure which parts bear the maximum load and so it has to be dealt with, carefully.
This bridge was built in 1921 during the British era. It was deemed unsafe during a joint inspection by the Indian Railways, BMC and the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. It's reconstruction will take over 2 years until which time vehicular traffic in central and south Mumbai will be in a poor shape.
QUICK OVERVIEW
- The Delisle Bridge was built in 1921 during the British era
- It was deemed unsafe during a joint inspection by the Railways, the BMC and the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
- Reconstruction of the Rail Over Bridge will take over 2 years and by then vehicular traffic in central and south Mumbai will be in a poor condition
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