Bandra Worli Sea Link

Bandra Worli Sea Link
Official Name	Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link
No. of lanes	8 lanes of traffic , 4 on each side
Exit Points	Bandra & Worli
Owner	MSRDC
Design	Cable-stayed main spans; concrete-steel precast segment viaducts at either end
Designer	Seshadri Srinivasan
Total Length	5.6 kms
Height of main span	126 m
Longest span	2 x 250 m
Constructed by	Hindustan Construction Company

The Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link , popularly known as Bandra Worli Sea Link is the first sea bridge of India . The cable stayed sections of this bridge , the tall towers along which the cables take support and E-Toll service are the striking features of the Bridge . The Sea Link reduces travel time between Bandra and Worli to 6 - 8 minutes , which would otherwise be more than 20 minutues . However , due to huge toll bills , very few vehicles ply through the bridge . As of October 2009 , BWSL had an average daily traffic of about 37,500 vehicles . The construction began in 2000 . 4 lanes were opened to the public in 2009 . All the 8 lanes became operational in 2010 .

Route

The Bandra Worli Sea Link connects Bandra & Worli . It is an extension of the Western Express Highway and also the end point of the W.E.H . It connects S.V. Road and W.E.H in Bandra to Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Marg (Worli Sea Face) in Worli . The Sea Link Crosses the Mahim Bay , where Mithi River meets the Arabian Sea . It takes a sharp left turn to reach Worli , which is very dangerous . The route of the bridge forms a "L" Formation . The bridge has 2 major spans and 4 minor spans . This route is also important as a route that connects the suburbs to the island city (South Mumbai) .

Planning

Along with the sealink , there were five parts supportive to the bridge .

1. Construction of a flyover over Love Grove junction in Worli .
2. Construction of acloverleaf interchange at the intersection of the Western Express Highway and S.V. Road in Bandra .
3. Construction of solidapproach road from the interchange to the Toll Plaza on the Bandra side along with a public promenade
4. Construction of the central cable-stayed spans with northern and southern viaducts from Worli to the Toll Plaza at the Bandra end .
5. Improvements to Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road .

Geology

'Surveys of the seabed under the planned route were conducted before the brid'ge design commenced. The marine geology underneath the bridge consists of basalts, vol'canic t'uffs and breccias with some intertrappean deposits. These are 'overlain by completely weathered ro'cks and residual soil. The strength of these rocks range from extremely weak to extremely strong and their conditions range from highly weathered and fractured, to fresh, massive and intact. The weathered rock beds are further overlain by transported soil, calcareous sandstone and thin bed of coarse grained conglomerate. The top of these strata are overlain by marine soil layer up to 9m thick consisting of dark brown clay silt with some fine sand overlying weathered, dark brown basaltic boulders embedded in the silt.