Mumbai: The BMC’s Installation of the First Giant Girder to Connect the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Coastal Road Project

With the Bandra-Worli Sea Link connecting the Mumbai Coastal Road, the promise of seamless connectivity in Mumbai became a reality. The BMC added another feather to its crown when it installed the first bow arch string girder, which connected the two crucial infrastructure projects.

This arrangement, which was finished on Friday, April 26, will now use tidal conditions in the open sea to join the sea connection and the coastal road via a massive girder. The girder launch, an unprecedented experiment in India, began at 2 a.m. and was accomplished successfully by 3:25 a.m. The 10.58-kilometer coastal road project’s junction with the sea connection is its most difficult section.

The BMC implemented its well-thought-out plan as follows:

At 1:30 p.m. on April 24, the first bow arch string girder departed from the Mazagaon docks and arrived at the sea link at 4 a.m. on April 25. On April 26, around two in the morning, the girders were installed while careful attention was paid to the tidal circumstances.

Using a barge, the girder was progressively moved to the halfway point between the sea connection and the coastal road. The barge was stabilized by engineers in the face of predicted wind and sea waves, which made the configuration ideal.

There were four established mating units—two on the sea connection and two on the coastal road. By 3.25 am, the white mating angles on the girder’s four corners were placed exactly at these units.

The mission was declared successful by the commanders, engineers, and laborers when all four mating cones and units were in alignment. The installed girder is 136 meters long and 18 to 21 meters wide, weighing 2,000 MT.

This girder’s several prefabricated components were produced in Ambala, Haryana. Additionally, very sophisticated welding technology was used to link the pre-fabricated pieces.

These pieces were then brought to the Mazagaon docks and assembled at Nhava port with the help of at least 500 trailers. Ultimately, a barge was used to move the girder from Nhava port in Navi Mumbai to the docks at Mazagaon and ultimately to Worli.

On the Worli side of the coastal road and the sea connection, there are two mating cones and units. The mating cones are 1.8 meters in diameter, and each mating unit is 2 meters in diameter.

NEXT WHAT HAPPENS?
After that, the mating cones and units will be fitted on all four corners, along with jacks. The jacks will then be actuated, and the mating cones and units will be taken out.

Technically speaking, the girder will need to be settled with the use of bearings before the jacks are taken out.

Concretization work between the sea link and the Worli end of the coastal road will be done in the next phase of the project. Advanced C5 Japanese technology has been applied to prevent corrosion.