Bandra Worli Sea Link

 

The Bandra Worli Sea Link, an engineering marvel and the first ever open Sea Bridge of its kind, is one of the most complex and advanced construction projects implemented in India. The Bandra Worli Sea Link is a 8-lane twin carriageway built over the Mahim Creek, in Mumbai, India which will reduce the travel time between the two points from 60-90 minutes to 6-8 minutes.

Special features :-

• The bridge took 2,983 days, 2.57 crore man hours, 3,000 men from 11 countries, a bill of Rs 852 crore to come into existence. It was conceived 46 years ago and will be inaugurated on 30/06/2009 by Smt.Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of UPA.
• It was first time in 1963, the US-based planning firm Wilbur Smith, in a report titled Planning of Road System for Mumbai Metropolitan Region recommended a road through the sea from Versova to Nariman Point. In late ’90s the said report which was gathering dust all these years was discovered by the incumbent Government. (claimed by Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.). Officially the construction of the Bandra-Worli Sealink was announced only by the Congess-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government on October 1, 2000.
• The contract for Rs 400 crore was bagged by Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and was handed over for construction only in May 2001. By this time many environmentalists and fishermen had moved court against the project which caused excessive delay in completion of the project. The Sea link has been constructed by the Hindustan Construction Company and its foreign partner, the China Harbour Engineering Corporation. HCC has the responsibility of maintaining the bridge during the damage liability period of five years.
• The sea link’s basic design was changed time and again even after the construction had begun due to which the cost escalated to Rs 815 crore and subsequently to Rs. 1,650 crore.
• The bridge at the Worli end was pushed 150 meters into the sea, away from a fishing village. The main Bandra cable-stayed part was changed from a single-towered, eight-lane bridge to double-towered, with two four-lane bridges.
• The Bandra Cable Stay section of the BWSL spans 600 m in length and towers to a height of 126 m (equivalent to a 43 storied building). The Cable Stay system comprises 2,250 km of high strength galvanized steel wires which support the Cable Stay Bridge weighing 20,000 ton.
• The sea link is a state-of-the-art alternative to the Mahim Causeway, a 1930s colonial-era bridge that is today the main link between Mumbai’s western suburbs and its southern part. Presently the motorists have to cross signals to reach Worli from Bandra whereas the sealink will provide a smooth 15-minute drive.

• It is projected that the bridge will carry 90,000 of the 1.3 lakh vehicles that travel from the western suburbs to South Mumbai. The drive from Bandra to Worli using the sea link may be over in 7-10 minutes, which covers appx. 6 KMS over the sea.
• The authorities will charge a one-way toll of Rs 50 for every car/LMV, Rs 75 for mini-buses, and Rs 100 for heavy motor vehicles like buses and trucks.
• The Bandra-Worli sea link would be equipped with state-of-the-art systems for traffic monitoring, emergency support and an automated toll system.
• The illumination of the bridge done at a cost of about Rs 9 crore will be an added attractiveness to the bridge.

 

Enjoy your ride…..