BMC to study structural safety of 314 city bridges

Following the collapse Mahad bridge collapse, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday has appointed consultants to conduct a structural audit of 314 bridges in the the city and suburbs, and submit a report. This is the first time that the civic body is undertaking a study of this nature.

The BMC said tenders calling for consultants to undertake the assessment had already been floated before the Mahad tragedy. However, the plan has not been given a go-ahead by civic standing committee, which will take almost one month to be approved after the proposal has been presented. Officials said they are planning to present it in the next few days. Once sanctioned, the audit will take at least eight months to complete and will include bridges over rivers or nullahs, railway bridges, foot over bridges, flyovers and subways.

The cost of the project has been divided into Rs. 63.18 lakh for the city, Rs. 49.39 lakh for the eastern suburbs and Rs. 1.05 crore for the western suburbs. Officials said the project will involve assessing the condition of the bridges and compiling an inventory of data about the structure’s type, year of construction, measurements and the cost of reconstruction. After the assessment, the consultants would decide if the bridge requires repair or reconstruction.

S.O. Kori, Chief Engineer (Bridges), Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, told

The Hindu that the civic body had been planning this study for over a year. “As the task is cumbersome and requires a lot of manpower, we could not execute it. Now, we have asked consultants to make the assessment and submit a report, after which we will develop an action plan based on scale of the task and the risks involved, and implement it accordingly.”

He added that railway bridges in the city are amongst the oldest and were constructed during the British era. “The Tilak Bridge in Dadar, which spans the railway tracks, was constructed in 1925. It was found to be in a poor condition, and a contract for Rs. 2.35 crore was given to the Railways to repair it. The work is still in process.”

The writer is an intern at The Hindu