Nearly 83 percent of the spare parts for Carnac Bridge’s girder have arrived at the Masjid Bandar railway station, with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) eyeing to install the second girder of the bridge by January 19, 2025. On Thursday, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar and other senior civic officials conducted an inspection of the work site. The BMC is aiming to open the bridge to vehicular traffic by June 2025.
A key east-west connector linking Masjid Bandar in south Mumbai with P D Mello Road, the 154-year-old Carnac bridge was razed in a four-day operation in 2022, rendering it inaccessible for vehicular movement. It was following this that the BMC, along with the railways, launched the re-construction of the British-era bridge at a cost of over Rs. 50 crore.
Nearly two years after its demolition, the BMC – in October 2024 – launched the first girder of the bridge. Weighing 516 metric tonnes, this was the south-side of the connector over the railway portion.
Now, gearing up for the installation of the second girder, its spare parts have started arriving at the worksite.
According to the BMC, nearly 428 metric tonnes of the steel girder’s spare parts have already arrived near the Masjid Bandar railway station, which accounts for 83 per cent of the total parts. The rest of the parts are expected to arrive by December 20, while a deadline of January 19 has been locked for the launching of the entire girder. Bracing for the installation, the civic body will be connecting the spare parts as well as conducting a trial run between January 13 and January 14.
Meanwhile, the BMC has also floated a request for a ‘railway block’ with the Central Railways in a bid to facilitate the launch by January 19. For perspective, the bridge passes above railway tracks as well as the city area.
Abhijit Bangar, AMC (Projects), who inspected the project progress on Thursday, said that the work on the project is being executed with pre-planned stage-wise durations. “Following the launch, the first phase of the pile foundation will be done between March 15, after which pile construction will be completed by April 2025. Later, the concreting of the approach roads will be completed by May 3, 2025, followed by a load test by June 1, 2025,” said a civic bulletin. The BMC is eyeing to open the bridge to vehicular traffic by June 5, 2025.
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