Mumbai: Taking a cue from delay on other bridges, BMC starts on girder for Carnac Bunder

Central Railway started the process of Carnac Bunder Bridge demolition on September 9 and hopes to complete the work in November. File pic

Learning from the delay in completion of Hancock and Delisle Road bridges, the BMC has started the process of making girders for the Carnac Bunder Bridge. This even as the bridge demolition work by the Central Railway is yet to be completed. As per civic officials, a significant amount of work on the girders will be complete by the time the bridge is demolished in three months.

The girders are being made by the contractor's company at Ambala, around 1,500 km from Mumbai, from where they will be transported to the site and then assembled.

"The work for girders is going on and it will take a few weeks. It will be transported to Mumbai and launched like Hancock bridge girders," said Satish Thosar, chief of BMC's bridges department.

Also read: Demolition of Carnac bridge begins; work likely to take 3 months, says CR

A railway engineer said that the demolition of the 164-year-old Carnac Bunder bridge, which started on September 9, will take a lot of time and skill due to its heavy and riveted structure. The bridge has century-old lime mortar inside the ducts and channels, adding to the strength of the floor bed, which needs to be slowly and carefully chiselled out.

After this, a mega block of about 30 hours is being planned in November to remove the girder part. During the block, the entire steel structure will be removed using a crane.

Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said they started the work on the bridge much in advance as the demolition had been delayed due to various permissions.

Meanwhile, the work on launching the Lower Parel girders has also been completed and the site is now being handed over to the BMC to complete the approaches.

(Inputs from Prajakta Kasale)

Nov
Month when the demolition work is scheduled to be complete