Bandra-Worli sea links weighs equals to 50k African elephants

The long-awaited Bandra-Worli sea link, seen as an engineering marvel, weighs equivalent to that of 50,000 African elephants and steel wire used is equivalent to the circumference of the earth.

The 5.6 kilometer-long cable stayed bridge, to be opened by Congress President Sonia Gandhi on June 30, is 63 times the height of Qutub Minar and has consumed 90,000 tonnes of cement, which would suffice to make five buildings of 10-storey each, a Mumbai State Roadways Development Corporation official said.

A treat to the eyes, the cost of illumination of the bridge would be Rs nine crore and the height of the cable-stayed tower is equal to a 43-storey building.

The bridge would provide an additional moving outlet from the island city to the Western suburbs and thereby providing much-needed relief to the congested Mahim causeway, which records around 1.25 lakh public vehicles in a day.

"The eight-lane bridge will reduce the travel time between the two points from 60-90 minutes to 6-8 minutes. This will save around Rs 100 crore a year in vehicle operating cost alone," the official said.

The Bandra-Worli sea link project was conceived in the 1990s. But, plagued by a series of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) from fishermen and environmentalists, the work on the project could not take off till October 2004. One NGO even took it to the Supreme Court, which, dismissed the plea.

Agitations, however, forced MSRDC to make drastic changes, to the tune of 80 per cent, in the design of the bridge which, in turn, escalated the cost of the project by around Rs 350 crore from the initial planned outlay of Rs 1,306 crore to Rs 1,650 crore.

Authorities aim to make the bridge as another destination in the "Mumbai Darshan" package.

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport, which provides public transport and power in the city, has proposed a ferry trip between Bandra Kurla Complex, a city business hub, and the Worli Sea Face. The eight-lane bridge will have two lanes dedicated for buses.

Bajaj Electricals has received the Rs nine crore illumination job of the Bandra-Worli sea link project. Needless to say, the lighting will add to the beauty of the bridge.

A toll plaza with 16 lanes and an approximate length of 410 metres is provided at the Bandra end. The toll plaza will be equipped with state-of-the-art toll collection system.

The construction team worked in the project is like a mini United Nations. Several teams of engineers from China, Egypt, Canada, Switzerland, Britain, Serbia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines have worked on the project.