In Mumbai, Barfiwala bridge may not open today, ‘load test’ report awaited

MUMBAI: The July 1 date set by BMC for opening of the connector of CD Barfiwala bridge, Andheri, with Gokhale bridge could be missed as BMC said it is awaiting results of the load test of the structure which was done on Sunday.
Additional municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar, in-charge of civic roads and bridges department, said that the load test is happening Sunday and results are expected late night.“A decision [regarding opening] will be taken after it’s received.”
Apart from the load test, the civic body will place height barriers, restricting heavy vehicles and also deploy traffic wardens on the bridge to regulate vehicular movement as two lanes of traffic coming from areas like Juhu, Andheri west will merge into a single lane on the Gokhale bridge.
Height barriers are essential as vehicular traffic from Barfiwala bridge will merge onto Gokhale bridge where currently only light motor vehicles are allowed to ply.
BMC had commenced the ground work on Apr 14 to match the levels of the two flyovers. The concretisationwork that was required to align the connecting girders of Barfiwala flyover and Gokhale bridge had to be carried out during the monsoon season too.
The civic body is spending nearly Rs 3 crore to match the level of the two flyovers for one side of the bridge. On March 19 this year, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) had submitted a report to the municipal corporation, stating that the merger of the two bridges was feasible without having to demolish the Barfiwala flyover. This assessment by VJTI had been later validated by experts from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B).
BMC is also likely place two temporary steel structures for the safety of pedestrians using Gokhale bridge. Currently, pedestrians walk from the signal at the start of Gokhale bridge which could be risky once vehicular traffic from the Barfiwala connector pours into Gokhale bridge.