The construction work on the longest bridge over the River Yamuna as part of the Delhi Metro’s expansion plan will be complete by March, 2014. With a length of 602.8 m and to be constructed between Mayur Vihar and Nizamuddin, it will be part of the Metro’s Phase III work.
According to the officials, 85 per cent of the construction work has been complete and it will connect South, East and West Delhi to North Delhi. The bridge is being constructed between the existing Nizamuddin Road Bridge and the DND Flyway to Noida. The Delhi Metro will also construct another bridge across the Yamuna between Okhla Barrage and Noida as part of the proposed Janakpuri to Kalindi Kunj Corridor. Being the second longest, the Okhla Bridge, will be 574 m. This bridge will connect South and West Delhi to Noida. After the completion of these two bridges, Delhi will have a total of four bridges over Yamuna. The Delhi Metro had built two bridges on the Yamuna during Phase I and II. While a bridge connects Kashmere Gate to Shastri Park Station, another connects Indraprastha to Yamuna Bank.
Prominent among the two bridges is the under-construction bridge that will connect Mayur Vihar with Nizamuddin, which is part of the longest corridor of the network, Mukundpur to Yamuna Vihar (55.69 km). Immediately after getting the requisite nods, DMRC had awarded the tender for the construction of this bridge to Arwind Techno Engineer Private limited, March last year. The bridge will facilitate connectivity from North Delhi to all other parts of the city. The alignment of the upcoming longest corridor of the Delhi Metro network starts from Mukundpur in North Delhi and connects all Metro corridors. Thus, the Metro commuters will be able to reach North Delhi from any corner of the city.
It is being constructed about 83 metres downstream of the existing Nizamuddin Road Bridge. The DMRC has employed segment launching technique for the construction of this bridge. The bridge will have 15 concrete spans placed on 16 pillars, out of which, seven spans will be of 42.6 m length, six others of 42.1 m length and the remaining two spans will be of 26 m length each. Ten spans have already been placed across the River Yamuna and just five others are yet to be placed. All the 16 pillars constructed for the completion of the bridge are situated in the middle of the river. Therefore, groundwater recharge and rain water harvesting have been linked to the construction process.
The second bridge proposed as part of the Delhi Metro’s Phase III network will be 574 m long. It will connect Janakpuri and South Delhi to Noida. To facilitate construction of this bridge, 14 concrete spans will be placed on 15 pillars and each span will be 41 m long. The construction work of this bridge has been handed over to SP Singla Private limited. The work on it will take two years to be completed. To be constructed alongside the Okhla Barrage, this bridge will have Kalindi Kunj Station on one side and Amity Noida Station on another.