New Delhi: A significant milestone has been achieved in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor project. The completion of the 480-meter-long Sabarmati River Bridge between Sabarmati and Ahmedabad stations marks a crucial achievement. This project includes a total of 25 river bridges, with 21 in Gujarat and 4 in Maharashtra.
Big Update on Bullet Train
With the Sabarmati River Bridge now finished, 18 out of the 21 bridges in Gujarat have been completed, leaving only three bridges remaining in the state. Progress is also underway on tunnels and steel bridges in Maharashtra. Overall, over 62% of the physical construction work for the 508-kilometer corridor has been completed, with around Rs 91,000 crore already expended.
Bridges are Created
The Sabarmati River Bridge in Ahmedabad, spanning 480 meters, showcases an impressive feat of engineering. Standing at approximately 36 meters high, equivalent to a 12-story building, the bridge’s height allows it to pass over existing metro lines, railway tracks, and flyovers in Ahmedabad. Constructed using balanced cantilever technology to minimize disruption to the river’s flow, the bridge features eight massive circular pillars supporting five 76-meter spans and two 50-meter spans without any temporary supports.
In Maharashtra, progress is evident as the first steel bridge, 100 meters long and weighing 1,405 metric tonnes, has been successfully installed over the Mumbai-Nashik Highway near Thane. Excavation work is also advancing swiftly on a 21-kilometer-long underground tunnel between Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Shilphata in Maharashtra, with a 7-kilometer stretch passing beneath the seabed under Thane Creek, making it the country’s first underwater high-speed rail tunnel.
As per the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) report, 62.16% of the physical work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project has been completed, with Rs 90,967 crore already spent. The estimated final cost is projected to reach Rs 2 lakh crore, compared to the original estimate of Rs 1.08 lakh crore, with the Railways now covering the increased cost, while the initial funding was predominantly provided by the Japanese agency JICA.