While life came at a halt during the Coronavirus Pandemic Lockdown, Western Railway continued to progress with its various infrastructural developments. It is worthwhile to mention that by converting the adverse situation of DISASTER of global pandemic into an OPPORTUNITY, Western Railway has completed the construction works of 3 Foot Over Bridges (FOB), one skywalk & repair of one Road Over Bridge (ROB) on the Mumbai Suburban section, making best use of the lockdown situation.
The construction work of the FOBs, skywalk & ROB completed during the lockdown are of the Andheri (South FOB), Andheri – Jogeshwari (North MCGM FOB), Marine Lines (North FOB), Malad (MCGM Skywalk) and Vasai Road- Nallasopara (Old ROB). The Andheri (South FOB) connects platforms 8/9, 6/7 and West side, measures 92 mtrs in length and 6 mtrs wide and was commissioned on 30th June, 2020. The Marine Lines (North FOB) connects platforms 1, 2, 3 & 4, measures 44 mtrs in length and 6 mtrs wide and was commissioned on 24th April, 2020. The Malad (MCGM Skywalk) connects MCGM FOB to the station, measures 141 mtrs in length and 6 mtrs wide which was commissioned on 9th May, 2020. The Vasai Road-Nallasopara (Old ROB) was repaired to provide a seamless east-west connectivity and measures 84.7 mtrs in length and 8 mtrs in width which was commissioned on 7th May, 2020.
The latest commissioned project on 30th July, 2020 is the Andheri-Jogeshwari (North MCGM FOB). The work of the part of FOB connecting East side with MCGM skywalk going to metro station of Andheri station to West side at SV road through Masjid Galli at Andheri (West), has been completed by the unit of Deputy Chief Engineer, Construction(II), Churchgate, S & C of Western Railway. This FOB will be useful for public movement from Masjid area at east of Andheri to reach metro station of Andheri (West) and will also be useful for the 6th line project between Mumbai Central and Borivali stations.
The Andheri (North MCGM FOB) bridge is 40 m in length & 6.0 m width, crossing over all of the railway tracks and connecting East to West of Andheri. The work of FOB was started on 10th March, 2019 and was in completed on war footing during the lockdown to open for public to use. The major hurdle was to construct the foundation of the FOB between running lines and to shift the bunch of cables, location box, OHE mast and portal etc. Also, the approach for movement of hydraulic crane of 220 tonne capacity for launching of girders was not available, so approach was made over track from Andheri Subway to the location of site approx. 500 meter and launching of girder was done within granted block period and in limited area without any disturbance to adjacent Metro Bridge. The efforts of Western Railway to complete various infrastructure projects even with the limited available staff during the Coronavirus Pandemic lockdown is truly remarkable.
