Sewri-Worli Elevated Corridor: Nearly 60% Work Completed - Here are key highlights of project

Sewri-Worli corridor will provide a signal free travel and connect Navi Mumbai with South & Central Mumbai. This corridor will bring ease in the traffic movement across the city. Nearly 60% of the construction work is completed in March 2025.

Under the Sewri-Worli Connector project, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will demolish and reconstruct the Elphinstone Road Over Bridge (ROB), which is an important milestone. It is expected to start by the second week of April.

According to the officials, MMRDA has anticipated to get the approval from the Mumbai Traffic Police before April 10, after completing all technical and safety procedures.

Officials stated that the demolition of the more than 100-year-old Road Over Bridge (ROB) in Prabhadevi was an urgent undertaking that needed to be finished before the monsoon season.

This bridge would create a contemporary double-decker structure that will greatly enhance Mumbai's East-West connectivity.

In order to facilitate traffic dispersal on the Mumbai side of the Atal Setu, the Sewri-Worli Elevated Connector is a crucial 4.5 km long, 4-lane (2+2) divided elevated highway.

As part of the project, ROBs will be built at two locations: Prabhadevi (Elphinstone Road), which is across the Central and Western lines, and Sewri, which is over the Harbour Line. Only 1.5 lanes may be carried in each direction on the 13-meter-wide Prabhadevi ROB, which is scheduled to be demolished.

Double Decker Bridge Project Details:

The new structure that is proposed will consist of:

• First Level: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road and Senapati Bapat Road are connected by a 2+2 lane highway.
• Second level: Two-lane road that connects Atal Setu and Worli.

Important technical details:

• It will have two spans with lengths of 95 and 37 meters.
• Weights of the superstructure: 3000 MT and 1200 MT, respectively.
• Approach from the Sewri side: around 156m.
• Approach from the Worli side: around 209m.

In order to ensure the safety of train commuters during operations, the new ROB will be built with cutting-edge techniques, such as the Push-Pull method for raising the steel superstructure above active railway lines.

Challenges in Construction and Demolition:

MMRDA claims that because of the live railway tracks and constrained metropolitan area, demolishing the current ROB and building the new one presents a technical problem.

The noteworthy highlights are:

• 800 MT capacity cranes are deployed for disassembly, along with a 500 MT standby crane. 
• Both Central and Western Railways must provide daily time blocks.
• Subterranean utilities should be handled carefully when building an approach.
• After starting, a 12-month timeline is intended for completion.
• There must be a road closure between Senapati Bapat Road and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road.

Plan for Pedestrian and Traffic Management:

The area between Senapati Bapat Marg and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road would be off-limits to cars for a year if the traffic police give their approval. In this time frame vehicles will use the Curry Road Bridge in the south and the Tilak Bridge in the north as detours.

The current FOB on the north side, next to Parel Station, will be made open to the public without a ticket.  On the south side, next to Prabhadevi Station, a new FOB is being built.  The Central Railway portion is now under construction and will be expedited while the Western Railway section is finished.  Both FOBs will provide smooth pedestrian access from east to west once they are finished.  Ambulances will be available 24/7 on both sides of the bridge in case of emergency.