2019
Indian Army felicitated Team Sunanda on 27th February 2018 for their contribution towards increasing the service life of the new foot-over bridge at Parel, Curry Road, and Ambivali Stations, Mumbai, India.
The Indian Army successfully constructed three highly anticipated railway foot overbridges (FOBs) on the Mumbai suburban section of the Indian Railways.
The FOBs, located at Elphinstone Road, Currey Road, and Ambivali stations, are within the congested suburban networks of the Western Railway (WR) and Central Railway (CR).
The decision to assign the construction of the FOBs to the Bombay Engineering Group (BEG), a division of the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers, was made following the tragic stampede at Elphinstone Road FOB on September 29, 2017, which resulted in the death of 23 commuters and left 40 injured. This incident sparked outrage among the over eight million daily commuters who rely on Mumbai’s lifeline.
Initially, the FOBs were supposed to be completed by January 31, as the state and central authorities stipulated. However, various factors, including changes in alignment and the addition of a staircase at the Elphinstone Road FOB, the relocation of the Currey Road FOB, acquiring materials from different parts of the country, and other local issues, caused a delay in the construction. The continuous flow of thousands of suburban trains presented these challenges as we had to carry out the work.
Notably, this is the first time the Indian Army has constructed such bridges for the Indian Railways within a congested urban setting like Mumbai. The construction process involved soil testing, structural design, launching the Bailey Bridge for construction, and the final commissioning of the pre-cast bridges, known as Bailey Bridges, commonly used in the country’s border regions or challenging terrains.
The Elphinstone Road FOB measures 73.1 meters in length and 3.65 meters in width. They constructed it within a period of 117 days costing Rs 10.44 crore. The Currey Road FOB, located at the CSMT end from the east side platform, spans 30 meters in length and 3.5 meters in width, and its construction cost amounted to approximately Rs 3 crore. The Ambivali FOB, connecting two platforms, stretches 20 meters in length and 3.5 meters in width, with a construction cost of Rs 2.70 crore.
All three bridges now significantly alleviate the rush of commuters at all three stations.
