After collapse, WR to dismantle Gokhale Bridge pathway soon

A month after the pedestrian pathway of Gokhale Bridge collapsed on the railway tracks at Andheri, the Western Railway (WR) will be issuing tenders on Friday to dismantle the pathway.

The dismantling of the pathway along with construction of a new one is likely to be completed in a year.

After the pedestrian pathway of the bridge collapsed on Andheri station on July 3, with two of the injured persons dying later on, WR officials now plan to not have a cantilever pathway for pedestrians at the bridge. WR officials feel the bridge’s weight is enough to sustain a pathway and they plan to construct the pathway on top of the bridge. “We are in the final stages of approval of the pathway construction design. As per the design, we will be constructing the pathway on the present bridge and will not have a cantilever pedestrian pathway arrangement,” said a senior WR official.

After the collapse, Union minister of railways, Piyush Goyal, had ordered an audit of 445 bridge structures crossing or adjacent to railway tracks. Commissioner of Railway Safety, in its probe report, had blamed the Railways and the civic body for lapses in maintenance of the bridge.

The railway administration has asked for ₹27 crore from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for construction and repairs of the bridges which have been flagged during inspections. “Dismantling work of a portion of Gokhale Bridge as well as the Lower Parel rail overbridge (RoB) will be undertaken only after we receive funds from BMC. The ₹27 crore also includes money for maintenance work of foot overbridges,” said an official.

Inspection of 25 RoBs has been undertaken on the central and the western line by a team comprising of IIT experts, BMC officials and Central Railway (CR) and WR officials. After the initial report on Delisle bridge, popularly known as the Lower Parel RoB, WR shut vehicular movement permanently on the bridge.

IIT Bombay has recently also asked that vehicular movement on the Patri Pool bridge of Kalyan be stopped immediately and the bridge be dismantled. Meanwhile, restricting heavy vehicles on Byculla RoB and closing the pedestrian pathway at the entrance of the Currey Road station is under consideration

First Published: Aug 05, 2018 00:40 IST