Commuters travelling from Mumbai towards Gujarat on National Highway 8 (NH8) may be inconvenienced from September 15 onwards. This is because major repair works, planned by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), will be carried out on the Versova creek bridge.
A little over two years after it was repaired for a second time in 2014, the crucial road over-bridge (RoB) running over the Versova creek — connecting Kashimira and Naigaon on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad NH8 — has once again developed cracks on a section of its girder.
While heavy motor vehicles (HMVs) have already been stopped from using the bridge, the speed that light motor vehicles (LMVs) are allowed to travel in has been restricted to 20 km/per hour.
The two-lane bridge is meant for northbound traffic towards Gujarat and Delhi. Now, for carrying out the necessary repair works, the NHAI will shut the bridge to traffic from September 15 onwards, officials said.
NHAI officer Shashi Bhushan said: “While we have sought that the bridge be closed immediately, only LMVs are allowed on it at present, and that too with a prescribed speed limit of under 20 km/ph.”
He added: “A team of technical experts will inspect the bridge for two days from Wednesday and suggest necessary corrective measures, following which the tentative timeframe of the bridge being closed will be decided.”
