An amazing Bandra-Worli Sea link - pictures and update

It took 10 years to build this engineering marvel  - Bandra Worli Sea link. Despite having extremely good workforce and a determined spirit to complete, the bridge took so many years mainly because of the way Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation stopped funding several times to Hindustan Construction Company, which executed this mammoth construction. Design changes were made every now and then. So, this resulted in a delay of 5 years. While China built 7 such links in the past 10 years, we have built one. We do not have to match China this way. Neither do we have scope for 7 sea links nor a need to do it. Mumbai Metro which is going at a fast pace will help a lot in reducing travel time when compared to driving on roads. However, a construction of this nature being completed is truly a news to cherish. It drastically reduces travel time between Bandra and Worli which is clogged like any other city road in India. 

This is the only bridge from India to have featured in Discovery channel. Here's the link to the video.

Underestimating the complexity of the bridge is foolish. This was built on Arabian Sea with pillars having to be drilled deep into the ocean rock (15 m) and pillars had to withstand huge wind speeds. I post the pictures of the sea - link in this article.

TOLL: Rs. 50 one way and Rs.75 for both ways. No 2 or 3 wheelers allowed.

Where does this link begin?
On Bandra End: At the intersection of Western Expressway and S.V. Road
On Worli End: Abdul Ghaffar Khan Road (Worli sea face) and Annie Besant Road.

First, let's compare the time taken to cover the two w.r.t existing road and the new link.

	Driving Distance	Driving Time	No of Signals	Speed
Before Sea Link	7.7 km	38 min	23	15 kmph
Using Sea Link	4.7 km	18 min	0	50 kmph

So, there is significant amount of time savings. There is no problem driving on the bridge. No two wheelers/three wheelers allowed. It is tolled. However, the problem comes at the Worli end where the design of the bridge connecting the main road causes traffic jams. It is here that it had to be corrected.

Despite a promised speed of 80 kmph, the speed is reduced to 50 because of high probability of traffic accidents. Not a huge issue though. It has 4 lanes on each side. The total 8 lanes were thrown open in March this year while the 4 lanes were opened on June 29, 2009.

The picture below will give some quick stats about this project.

Let's look at some videos:


Here's the fireworks at the time of opening:



Pics courtesy: google images and skyscrapercity
Whether critics like it or not, the sea-link is a new marvel and wonder for Mumbai and for India.
More about the bridge can be studied here.

In another 10 years I hope we see Worli-Haji Sea Link and Nhawra Sewri Sea Link completed.