The Bridge to Mumbai's Future: Bandra Worli Sea Link With technology from across the world and engineers from seven countries, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, India's first bridge across the sea seems like a long awaited dream come true for thousands of commuters who travel between Mumbai's sprawling, prosperous Western suburbs and its southern business heart. In a city that adds more than 500 vehicles every day, the Sea Link is the only hope for drivers who must cross 23 signals between Bandra and Worli currently. When it opens, it will carry 90,000 of the 1.30 lakh vehicles that now cross Mahim causeway. Conceived in the 1990s and contracted in 2000, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link is the visible evidence of the multi-crore Mumbai makeover dream. The Sea Link is the first of a ring of expressways skimming along the w e s t e r n c o a s t, including the Worli- Nariman Point Sea Link, with dispersal to Cuffe Parade. The Sea Link will also be supported by a series of flyovers, rail link, roadways and other public facilities. Its importance can be gauged from the f a c t t h a t t h e booming western sea board is not just home to the newly prosperous but to the exploding middle-class and thousands of companies and people that drive the city's new economy: entertainment, infotech and finance. Commuters on the rapidly grid-locking western link roads regard the Sea Link as a magic wand. Many have looked in awe at the Sea Link's grand central tower rising above the concrete decks inching towards each other from north and south. Project Background Commuters on the rapidly grid-locking western link roads regard the sea link as a magic wand The Bandra Worli Sea Link will be an 8-lane, cablestayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete viaduct approaches, which will link Bandra and the western 1
suburbs of Mumbai with Worli and central Mumbai. It is the first phase of the proposed West Island Freeway system proposed to be built to improve the connectivity between the island city of Mumbai and its western suburbs. The Rs. 1600 crore project of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is being executed by Hindustan Construction Company. Designs and Project management is by M/s DAR Consultants. The bridge is now slated to open in the third week of June. The Sea Link will enable speedy travel between Bandra and Worli, cutting travel times from 60 75 minutes to around 7 minutes. The Bandra Worli Sea Link Project has been one of the most highly recommended projects of all the transport studies done for the metropolitan region during the last forty years. At present, Mahim causeway is the only link connecting western suburbs to island city of Mumbai. The existing north south western corridor is highly congested and during the peak hours results in a bottleneck at Mahim Causeway. Vehicular traffic admeasuring about 1,20,000 PCU travels on the Mahim causeway everyday and during peak hours and it takes about forty minutes to travel from Mahim causeway to Worli, a distance of about 8 km. Project Location Express Highway and Swami Vivekananda road at Bandra and connects to Worli at Worli end with overall length of 5.6 kms for the entire project. A cloverleaf interchange at Mahim intersection and a flyover at the Lovegrove intersection have been proposed as part of this project to enhance the faster and safe traffic dispersal. Tata Mutual Fund Employees and Distributors on a visit to the Bandra Worli Sea Link 2
Salient Features An 8-lane bridge with 2 lanes dedicated for buses. Unique bridge design for the Link Bridge to emerge as a land mark structure in the city. Single tower supported 500 meters long Cable Stayed Bridge at Bandra Channel and Twin tower supported 350m Cable Stayed Bridge at Worli Channel for each carriageway. 3
Modern toll plaza of 16 lanes with automated toll collection system. Benefits of the project An intelligent bridge with state - of - art systems for traffic monitoring, surveillance, information and guidance, instrumentation, emergency support etc. Development of promenade and landscaping to enhance the environment. Engineering Marvel The Bandra Cable Stay section of the Bandra Worli Sea Link is 600 metres in length and towers to a height of 126 metres. The length of steel used for the cable stayed bridge of the sea-link is estimated to be close to 40,000 km while the pylons through which they are passed are approximately 180 metres, the height of a sixstorey building. The cable stay system is made up of high strength galvanized steel wires which support the cable stay bridge weighing 20,000 tonne. The 500-metre-cable stayed portion, where a part of the sea link is held up by steel cables, has been completed in four months, officials from HCC, the construction company building the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The second cable stayed bridge is estimated to take approximately three to four months to be completed. Project Benefits Savings in vehicle operating cost to the tune of Rs.100 crores per annum due to reduction in congestion in the existing roads and lower vehicle operating cost on the bridge. Considerable savings in travel time due to increased speed and reduced delays at intersections at existing roads. Ease in driving with reduced mental tension and overall improvement in the quality of life. 4
Improvement in environment especially in terms of reduction in carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and reduction in noise pollution in areas of Mahim, Dadar, Prabhadevi and Worli. Project to have no adverse effect on fisheries, marine life and livelihood of fishermen. Reduced accidents. Proper landscaping measures along the approaches and promenade along waterfront to enhance environment of the area. Project Future The Maharashtra Government has announced the extension of Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai by another 3.6 km up to Haji Ali at an additional cost of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion). The bidding process for the project will be completed and work orders be issued for the extension project by the end of this year. The extension project will be carried out on a buildoperate-own-transfer (BOOT) basis and the successful bidder will also have to buy out MSRDC from Bandra Worli Sea Link project. The successful bidder will get the rights to collect toll on both the sea links for next thirty years. The MSRDC is expected to incur a cost of Rs 1,640 crore (Rs 16.4 billion) on the Bandra Worli sea link. With technology from across the world, engineers from seven countries and workers from across India, the Bandra Worli Sea Link rises above the Arabian Sea. 5