MMRDA and state maritime board will meet this week to take a call on 8-km-long bridge design
Focussing on improving road network in the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR), the authorities have started working on the broader details of the proposed Rewas–Karanja creek bridge. A final call remains to be taken on its design - whether it should be cable-stayed at a greater height, or bascule, alternately known as a movable bridge, like the Pamban railway bridge in Tamil Nadu.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) have begun rounds of discussions on the design. A final call on the design and structure of the 8-km-long bridge will be taken during a meeting between the two agencies this week.
"MMB wants a bascule lift design for the creek bridge. In this design, the road traffic is stopped and a span of the road is lifted using hydraulics to allow the sea or river traffic to pass by. However, there is an alternative to such a design, which is constructing a bridge at a higher level," said metropolitan commissioner U P S Madan.
The design issue holds import considering the necessity to allow passage of sea traffic, largely passenger ferries that sail through the creek.
"It is possible to make a bascule lift bridge, but it is not feasible due to the high cost of construction as well as the maintenance needed for daily operations," said Madan.
Another fear is that if there is a technical glitch and the lift does not open, that will hit shipping activity in the area .
At the moment, a detailed project report (DPR) for the bridge is being prepared by a private consulting firm. A design involving building a segmental or continuous span girder (neither cable-stayed nor bascule lift) has an estimated cost of Rs403.31 crore.
Presently, people travelling between Rewas and Karanja have two options – either travel 70 km by road via Khopoli-Pen-Poinad, or opt for a 10-15-minutes ride on a passenger boat to cross the creek.
However, during high tides, Rewas is accessible only by ferry. Even during low tides, the jetties of Mora and Rewas need dredging in order to remain operational.
Incidentally, the design of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link was modified to cable-stayed after a petition by the fishermen's association asking to be provided with a navigation channel. This change in design also resulted in increase in the construction cost of the sea link.
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