Elphinstone foot over-bridge to be ready in two weeks

Mumbai: The Army launched two girders of the new foot over-bridge (FOB) at Elphinstone Road station on Saturday afternoon. According to the Army, the work is being completed in five phases, the fourth of which has just been finished.

The bridge will be thrown open to public in the next two weeks, revealed an Army official during the  launch. However, the January 31 deadline will not be met, as the installation of the staircase and ramp is still pending.

The Pune wing of the Indian Army Corps of Engineering is overseeing the bridge construction at Elphinstone, Ambivali and Currey Road stations.

Brigadier Dhiraj Mohan, Commandant of the Bombay Engineer Group and Centre said there were time constraints since the train operations had to be hampered for the construction of the bridge.

“Also there was not enough space to accommodate the construction materials. We had set aside two months for planning and one month for execution, soil testing and alignment. The work was started on December 10, 2017” he said.

Brigadier Mohan further said that the bridge would be ready to use in 15 days. Nearly 80 per cent work of the bridge will be completed by tonight.

The army was called in to construct the foot overbridge after 23 people lost their lives in the stampede on the bridge at the station on September 29 last year. The new FOB is 240 feet long and 12 metres wide and is made of high carbonate steel.

“The bridge can accommodate any heavy vehicle,” said Brigadier Mohan. According to the officials, on February 4, 2018, an eight-hour mega block will be observed on the central line in order to complete the construction of the Currey Road foot over bridge.