In a significant milestone for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde today (May 24) flagged off a bus that traversed across the sea bridge. On board the bus were project managers, engineers and workforce involved with MTHL.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present on the occasion. Fadnavis took a car ride across the sea bridge.

On May 9, the 22-km seabridge achieved end-to-end connectivity with the placement of the last steel deck span, ‘Golden Joint’, connecting Package 1 with Package 2 over the sea. The engineers and completed the task of launching the last orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) on supporting piers.

The overall progress on the project is currently 93 per cent, with the authorities targeting November 2023 opening.

Financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), MTHL Bridge is a 22-km-long six-lane marine road bridge implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The project consists of sea crossing section of around 16.5 km and land section of remaining 5.5 km.

The link has interchanges at Sewri in Central Mumbai, Shivaji Nagar at Mumbai Bay and NH-4 B at Chirle, Navi Mumbai.

Popularly known as the Sewri Nhava Sheva Harbour Link, the sea link connects Sewri in Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai, thereby, reducing the travel time between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to just 20 minutes from the present two hours.

The mega project is expected to mitigate traffic congestion in the island city and promote economic development in Navi Mumbai and greater economic integration of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and their extended regions such as Pune, Goa, Panvel and Alibaug.

At a Glance

• 70 number of OSDs in MTHL

• 84,000 tonnes: Cumulative weight of all 70 OSDs

• 8.8 km: Total length of OSDs used in MTHL

• 180-metre: Longest OSD launched on the MTHL, giving a navigation space of 180 metres to ships traversing under the bridge without obstruction

• 04 January 2022: Launch of first OSD for MTHL

• 09 May 2023: Launch of last OSD for MTHL

Project Executed As Four Packages

The MTHL bridge has been split into four packages — while packages 1 and 2 are sea based, package 3 is on land.

Package 1 work,executed by the L&T–IHI consortium, is a 10.38 km stretch having one interchange at Sewri connecting with the Eastern Freeway.

Package 2 is 7.807 km having Shivaji Nagar interchange connecting Navi Mumbai JNPT, Ulwe and airport areas.

Package 3 comprises a 3.613 km stretch at Chirle side and being carried out by L&T.

Package-4 entails work related to installation of an intelligent transport system (ITS), toll management system, electrical works, highway illumination system, and construction of toll plazas and administrative buildings including the command control centre.

Deadline

The commencement date of three civil works packages was 23 March 2018 and the progress is 92.60 per cent in Package-1, 92.28 per cent in Package-2, and 98.09 per cent in Package-3, as of 5 March 2023.

The bridge, when completed, would be the longest sea bridge in India and would cater to 70,000 vehicles daily.