100-metre steel bridge for bullet train project installed in Maharashtra's Thane

A 100-metre-long steel bridge weighing 1,405 metric tonnes has been installed in Maharashtra's Thane district as part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, officials said on Tuesday, September 29.

It is the first steel bridge set up in Maharashtra under the project. The structure was fabricated at a workshop in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, located 1,300 km away, and transported to the site on trailers for assembly and installation, officials said.

The bridge, 14 metres high and equally wide, was launched over National Highway-3 at Dive-Anjur village in the Bhiwandi area on Monday, according to a release by the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL). With this installation, 16 of the total 28 steel bridges planned along the bullet train corridor have now been completed, it said.

The bridge was highlighted as an example of indigenous technical and material capability under the Make in India initiative. It was fabricated at a specialised workshop in Trichy before being transported over 1,300 km by heavy trailers to Thane, where it was assembled on site, the release said.

The launch operation was carefully executed to ensure structural safety while minimising disruption to highway commuters, it added. The structure incorporates a protective painting system and elastomeric bearings to enhance durability and manage vibrations. An automated system pulled the completed bridge into place during scheduled night traffic blocks on the highway.

The 508-km high-speed rail line, the country's first, will connect Mumbai in Maharashtra to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, aiming to sharply cut travel time between the two cities.