Mumbai: The sun is setting on 10 British-era rail overbridges in Mumbai. Maharashtra government has decided to demolish the ageing bridges and build modern ones designed to handle the metropolitan’s ever-growing traffic needs.
Elphinstone bridge in Parel, for instance, is to be replaced with a double-decker facility by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The construction could take at least two years. Demolition of the 125-year-old bridge, which was to be razed on 25 April, was halted after protests by residents of buildings flanking the structure.
Protesters say they have were never officially informed about the phased demolition, nor were they given any clarity on the relocation plan. They are expected to meet state government officials Monday to put forth their demands.
At the same time, work is underway to replace nine other British-era bridges, with multiple agencies including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (MRIDC), and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) tasked with the mammoth undertaking.
The BMC will be working on seven bridges and will provide MRIDC with funds to replace Dadar’s Tilak bridge, Byculla bridge, and South Mumbai’s Reay Road bridge.
Authorities say the old bridges need rebuilding as the material of their building blocks, especially the steel girder, is past its lifespan.
After Andheri’s Gokhale bridge partially collapsed over the Mumbai Western Railway in 2018, a structural audit of the older bridges found that many date back 100 years and are in a dilapidated state, posing a risk to public safety.
Most old, dilapidated bridges run over railway lines in bustling localities and witness high traffic density. Most are also East-to-West connectors, so BMC and Mumbai traffic police have come up with a plan to divert traffic to adjacent roads for the period of the reconstruction. But arterial Mumbai roads, already choked due to the ongoing road concretisation project, could face more traffic snarls once work on the bridges begins.
“It creates inconvenience because we will divert one bridge’s traffic to other already burdened roads. The equilibrium of the road is disturbed,” BMC Assistant Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar tells ThePrint.
On criticism of BMC for the delay in reconstruction, Bangar says, “Yes, there have been delays, but the good thing is we are now strict regarding our timelines and seeing how we can expedite the process. Workers do overlapping work and parallel work, wherever possible. Railway blocks, though, is a major hindrance.”
Bridges at various stages of reconstruction include Carnac bridge at Masjid Bunder, Sion bridge, Bellasis in Mumbai Central, Mahalaxmi bridge, Vikhroli bridge, and Vidyavihar bridge. Of the roughly 300 bridges in Mumbai, more than 20 date back to the late 19th century. “The motive is to replace the old bridges with cable-stayed bridges without causing any hindrances to traffic when a new bridge is under construction adjacent to the old one, followed by the demolition of the existing old bridge,” says an MRIDC official.
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Newer look and feel
The cost of reconstructing each of these bridges comes to Rs 90 crore-200 crore, according to the BMC. The bridges’ span over railway lines will be 70-120 metres, and the side approach roads will be 40 to 50 metres.
Taking a cue from IIT-Bombay’s structural audit following the Andheri bridge collapse, BMC floated a joint venture between the railways and the state government in July 2018—MRIDC. Since then, MRIDC has worked with BMC on bridges.
Although a part of Mumbai’s history, the British-era bridges will have to give way to newer, swankier structures. Authorities do not plan to maintain their old look and feel, and instead, will build at least two-lane carriageways in both directions to accommodate the growing traffic.
“Either you can preserve a structure or build a new one because you cannot change the alignment. We have to join the approaches on existing roads on both sides,” says Bangar.
During reconstruction of Gokhale bridge, BMC had received flak for misaligning the bridge with the adjacent Barfi flyover.
Different stages of reconstruction
The Carnac bridge, one of Mumbai’s first rail overbridges built in 1857 between Masjid Bunder railway station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, was demolished in November 2022. Three years later, a new Carnac bridge will reopen in June 2025.
One of the oldest bridges near South Mumbai’s Nagpada, the Bellasis bridge is among the busiest in that part of the city. Built in 1893 and closed for public use in January 2024, the bridge, once rebuilt, could open by December 2025.
The 1912-built Sion bridge is another rail overbridge, a crucial link on the Eastern Express Highway. It connects the western and eastern suburbs and Dharavi to the rest of the city. The bridge was declared unfit in 2024.
Bangar says MRIDC would construct the bridge while BMC would work on connecting roads. “Once the MRIDC completes its portion, we will take another non-monsoon 90 days to finish our part [of work].”
The new Sion bridge will open sometime between May and December 2026.
Bangar says the Vikhroli bridge, closed for public use six years ago, will be reopened by 31 May this year.
He explains that the delays in constructing the bridges are largely due to their location over railway lines, which pose construction challenges. “For the work to take place, the trains have to stop, so work can not happen during the day. The work happens at night, and later, workers remove [construction] debris from the tracks so that the trains can run again. Eventually, we get only four hours of work per day.”
The trickiest, according to him, is the Mahalaxmi bridge, which was shut down in 2020 but remains far from completion even after five years. BMC plans to build a cable-stayed bridge to replace it. The challenge is that the pile-on and connection of cable from the highest to lowest points take a long time, roughly 200 days.
The new bridge is expected to open before 30 October 2026.
Tilak bridge, another century-old bridge, is a crucial East-to-West connector in Mumbai’s Dadar area. MRIDC is building a cable-stayed bridge in its place. After new parallel lanes are in place, BMC will demolish the existing bridge.
Pooja Bhatia is an intern with ThePrint.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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This Elphiston brigde was too low wide brigde which was created congested jaam every 24X 7.days and its was two line vhical playing coming and going i have personal experince fir my cancar petiont wife coming and going to TATA CANCAR hospitl from jogeshwari west to parel since last 15 years
There for make it new one inti six lane brigde pl BMC comisnor