Considering the weather conditions during monsoon, no work will be taken up on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Sealink Sea portion following the risk factors involved, said a senior official from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The 21.8km of the MTHL bridge is 16 km on sea.
The official explained, ” Major civil work with regards to the construction of the MTHL has been completed. Therefore, there is no such work left that can be done in monsoon time over the sea portion. Some small works are remaining that will be taken up post monsoon.” The MTHL bridge is over 94% ready and expected to be completed by November and opened to traffic subsequently, the official explained.
The MMRDA official further explained that work such as filling up of expansion joints remains on the MTHL. “Remaining work includes laying of concrete, asphalt and waterproofing, whereas to fill the expansion joints of the bridge, steel will be used. However, this work will not be done in monsoon time. Once the rainy season is over before November the miscellaneous ancillary works will be taken up. Connectivity with all three packages is done in MTHL bridge,” added the official, which was the major milestone in the project.
The Rs 18,000 crore 21.8 km long seabridge ‘MTHL’, was divided into three packages. Package 1 comprising 10.380 kms of stretch starting from Sewri passes through a flamingo-protected area and BARC ( Bhabha Atomic Research Centre).
Similarly Package 2 comprises 7.87 km of stretch over sea and Package 3 is 3.613 kms landing at Chirle. Currently the road distance from Sewri to Chirle is 52 km.
The MTHL sea bridge will reduce the distance to 21.8km. The bridge will have a capacity to carry 1,00,000 vehicles per day and will make it possible to travel between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai in just 20 minutes, saving time, fuel as well help reduce daily carbon emissions drastically once opened to traffic.
