Mumbai: Tenders by November-end, Gokhale bridge razing to start by January

MUMBAI: Western Railway is likely to begin the demolition of Gokhale road overbridge, which connects S V Road in Andheri (West) to Western Express Highway (WEH) in the east, from January 2023. Once the demolition work is carried out, the BMC will begin construction of the connector that criss-crosses above railway tracks.
A senior WR official said, "We will invite tenders by the end of this month, after which a minimum of 21 days will have to be given to the interested parties to submit their bids." Once the contractor is appointed, it will need a few days to move in men and machinery to begin the work. The official added, "Hence, the work is expected to begin from January."
The bridge, which was built in 1975, is 80 metres long and 25 metres wide.
As per the plan finalised at a meeting between the civic corporation and WR, the north-lane carriageway will be demolished first by March. Thereafter, the south-lane carriageway will be taken up for razing. Initially, dismantling of parapet and vertical columns along the parapet, concrete of corroded trough and advance cutting will be undertaken. After this is completed, a mega block of about 30 hours will be planned to remove the girder portion and finish the demolition work.
The pedestrian portion of Andheri's Gokhale bridge had crashed on July 3, 2018, because of corrosion and overload caused by the use of cables and paver blocks.
As per the report of the commissioner of railway safety on the cause of the bridge's collapse, the cantilever footpath was subjected to 124 tonnes of overload. While the total dead load permissible as per the general arrangement drawing (GAD ) was 279.6 tonnes, the additional load was 44% more than the load designed for the pathway.