Western Railway plans to elevate Sandhurst bridge near Opera House by 1 foot to replace DC cables with more powerful AC ones
Western Railway plans to elevate Sandhurst bridge near Opera House by 1 foot to replace DC cables with more powerful AC ones
The Western Railway (WR) is all set to elevate the 500-tonne road overbridge near Charni Road for replacing DC cables with more powerful AC ones to make train services faster and smoother. 
Up, Up and away: The Sandhurst Bridge between Charni Road and
Grant Road stations has eight lanes and each of them will be lifted in
phases, which will take around a month's time. The work will start only
in the next month. File Pic
The railways have embarked on this novel idea of lifting a road over bridge (by one foot) for the first time since its inception in 1853.
Converting power cables from DC to AC is fine but why does the WR need to lift the road overbridge?
According to a senior railway official, an AC cable carries 25,000 volt, while DC ones transmit only 1,500 volt. "So you need to have more space between the AC wires and the overbridge for the safety of the passengers and passers by. This is why we are planning to lift the Sandhurst Bridge, situated between Charni Road and Grant Road stations," he added.
Powerful: An AC cable carries 25,000 volt, while DC ones transmit only
1,500 volt. file pic
But it will be quite a challenge for the WR officials to carry out the work without disruptting the rail and road traffic and tampering with cables of at least 20 agencies such as Mahanagar Gas Ltd and BEST passing through the bridge. "We will take utmost care that the cables of other agencies are not tampered with during the course of work. We are still awaiting a few NOCs from the BMC and other departments," said the official.
The bridge has eight lanes and each of them will be lifted in phases. The process will take around a month's time. The work will start only in the next month.
"But railway passengers will have to face some delay and cancellations during that period," cautioned the official.u00a0 Sharat Chandrayan, Chief PRO, Western Railway, said, "This is happening for the first time in the history of Indian Railways and we are using cutting edge technology to lift the bridge."
8
Number of lanes on the Sandhurst bridge
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500
Approx weight of the bridge (in tonnes)
25,000
volt current that flows through AC cable
How it will be done
The WR has decided to elevate the overbridge with the synchronized digital jacks to avoid the lengthy procedure of demolishing the entire u00a0structure and building it all u00a0over again at an increased height.
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