Mumbai
All 344 bridges in city were audited; 47 bridges to undergo major repairs, 176 bridges to undergo minor repairs
Updated : Jan 16, 2019, 06:20 AM IST
After surveying all the 344 bridges in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is finally giving orders for the repair work of 223 bridges. The bridges include foot overbridges (FOB), flyovers, skywalks, and even rail overbridge (ROB).
Of the 344, 176 bridges require minor repairs and 47 bridges require major repairs. Considering that the surface area will not be affected since a greater part of the repair work involves strengthening the bridges, traffic will thereby not be affected.
In the first phase, bridges in Mulund, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Kurla, Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Goregaon will be repaired next month. According to the BMC, the work is expected to be complete in 18 months, excluding monsoon. The cost will go beyond Rs 200 crores.
The civic body had given contracts for structural audits of 296 bridges in the city after the Mahad bridge collapse that had killed 31 people in the year 2016. Because the Andheri flyover over the railway tracks collapsed at the time when the orders for the audit were in practice, the civic body decided to audit all 344 bridges, including the ones built newly.
The structural auditors have also suggested reconstruction of 14 bridges of which three have already been demolished by the civic body. Around Rs 3 crore have been spent on the audit.
Before the andheri bridge collapse, the bmc had decided to conduct audit of only 296 bridges in the city
Data on bridges in the city including FOBs, ROBs, Skywalks, bridge over nullah and bridge over railways tracks:
344 Number of bridges across the city
176 Number of bridges that require minor repairs
47 Number of bridges that require major repair
14 Number of bridges to be demolished
Govandi east-west flyover on the eastern highway
Garodiyanagar, Vidyavihar east bridge
D’souza Nagar bridge in Kurla