The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) on Monday launched the first Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) on the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) a 22 km-long sea link.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 17,843 crore. The link has interchanges at Sewri in Central Mumbai, Shivaji Nagar at Mumbai Bay and NH-4 B at Chirle in Navi Mumbai.

It was launched in the sea in presence of Eknath Shinde, Cabinet Minister of Urban Development and Public Works (Public Undertakings) and Chairman MMRDA.

The OSD is a steel deck superstructure, which will carry the vehicular load more efficiently and improve the load-carrying capacity of the bridge as compared to concrete superstructure.

Officials said that the steel spans are fabricated in workshop facilities located in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and Myanmar.

SVR Srinivas, IAS, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA termed it as a “moment of pride for India and MMRDA”.

"This is an important milestone in the Engineering history of the country," Srinivas added.

The delivery has been done for the first Orthotropic Steel Decks (OSD) which will enable faster construction work and lessen deck-related on-site activities. The final assembly, load-out was done in December 2021 and raising of the superstructure at its place was carried out on-site on January 3 2022.

The sea bridge will be equipped with an intelligent transport system (ITS) and the other amenities required. The traffic conditions on the stretch will be monitored and managed from the traffic control centre with the help of CCTV cameras and related facilities installed.

Once ready the MTHL will connect South Mumbai to the Navi Mumbai in a mere 25 minutes as compared to the current travel time of 120 minutes.

About 75 per cent of piers work is complete and the overall project progress achieved is about 67 per cent to date. The expected timeline to complete the project is 2023.

Image credit: Roadtraffictechnology.com