MUMBAI: The collapse of the Mahad bridge on Savitri River last August, in which 30 people lost their lives, has triggered a periodic check-up of bridges in the state and may be responsible for preventing a possible mishap involving the creaking Amar Mahal flyover, PWD sources say.
This is for the first time in years that the exercise has been taken up. In just the last four days, the state administration has identified 22 flyovers in Mumbai that need urgent repairs. These flyovers mostly belong to the MSRDC, and are 20-40 years old.
That the Amar Mahal flyover was past its prime and was headed for disaster was noticed by a junior engineer (PWD) during an inspection.The detected damage has been categorised as “serious” (see graphic for revamp details; the cost of the revamp will be Rs 125 crore). After the revamp, the flyover’s life will be increased by 100 years. It was built in 1995. The state has also decided to carry out repairs on 20 flyovers by May 31 for Rs 50 crore. “The cost per flyover works out to Rs 2-3 crore,” said a senior PWD official. “The move is precautionary. This is to avoid low-scale damage on these flyovers developing into something serious, like what happened with the Amar Mahal flyover.” Engineers with the state’s road infra agencies say the widow of repair is particularly small at busy places like Dadar TT, N M Joshi Marg, Byculla, Sion, Parel and Worli, and also at places like Vakola, Andheri, Chunabhatti, Kalanagar and Kurla.
An unexpected high growth in the number of heavy vehicles, such as multiaxel containers and trucks, and also heavier consumer cars like SUVs, in the last two decades made the spans of the Amar Mahal flyover–a unique concrete bridge mounted on steel-frame spans–more “stressed and overloaded,” said engineers and experts associated with the proposed repairs.
All this work will likely involve traffic disruption, though most of the work will be taken up late night.