Western Railway (WR) has finalised and awarded the contract for the new Delisle Road Bridge at Lower Parel, which will take 10 months to construct. The bridge will be built in lieu of the century-old bridge that was dismantled earlier this month.
The contract for the new bridge has been awarded to a joint-venture firm Saidutt-Dynamic-Sobti and will be built at a cost of ₹86.52 crore. According to senior railway officials, the tender, which was opened on January 31, received only one bid. The contract was awarded on Thursday after due deliberation. The work is being executed by WR, but the cost will be paid by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The BMC will also construct the approach roads to the bridge.
The new rail over bridge (ROB) will have a six-lane road with pedestrian pathways on either side. The ROB will be 85-metres long and span across five tracks. It will also have a provision for the proposed sixth line between Mumbai Central and Bandra. The main girders will be fabricated using high grade steel and will be launched from the east side of the station.
Similar to the old bridge, the new ROB will be built at a 64 degree angle. However, the new bridge will be higher since it will be built at a height of 5.87 metres as against the old ROB, which stood at a height of 4.9 metres. The extra height is due to the fact that the new ROB will not have any pillar between the tracks and will rest on two main pillars on either side of the tracks.
“The detailed design will be finalised within a fortnight. The work of dismantling of the approach from the east side of the bridge is under progress. Work on the west side will be taken up after the relocation of shops and houses by the BMC,” said Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer, WR.