Great news for all Mumbaikars!!!!

Bandra-Worli Sea Link ready for traffic
Mumbai's anticipated 4.7 km long Sea Link slated to open to general traffic in last week of June, 2009. One way toll to be close to Rs 50.

AUTOCAR INDIA was provided an exclusive look and a chance to drive on Mumbai’s spanking new Bandra Worli Sea Link. One section of the Sea Link is only a few days away from being opened for use (it is likely to open between the 23rd to 29th of June) and the experience of driving on this four-lane road turned out to be quite an eye opener.

At an average speed of 80kph, the approximately 5km-long bridge (4.7 km without the lead in and lead out) will take a mere six minutes to traverse as against 30 to 40 minutes needed to fight your way through Mahim traffic.

However, traffic authorities have indicated that the speed limit is likely to be more like 50 or 60km an hour. This is a shame as the bridge has been designed and built to be traversed at a minimum of 80kph, which might prove prudent with the monsoons just around the corner.

The most prominent feature of this bridge is the cable stay tower at the Bandra-end that towers 43 floors high, just off the shoreline. One way toll is likely to be Rs 50, but two- and three-wheelers are banned on the bridge due to the exposure to strong winds from the sea.

The Hindustan Construction Company, who built the bridge, say the other lane will be opened by November or December. HCC reckons that it has already used up enough steel in this project to go around the earth at least once.

While the final phase of this project has yet to be started, the proposal is to link the bridge right up to Nariman Point at the end of Marine Drive.

Source: www.autocarindia.com

Yes I heard of it, The Sealink looks awesome and will make the fast life of Mumbai bit easy.

RoadRocket

Yes, but the 50-60 km/h speed limit is actually a shame for the bridge's capabilities and Mumbaikars will miss out one chance of speeding, in the otherwise congested city.

Only Mumbaikars know how badly this bridge was needed.

So Finally!
The Sealink is now open for all mumbaikars!
Any Exclusive images from any Mumbai TAI Member?


VT

The best part of the sea-link is that only one part of it has been opened, which connects Bandra to Worli. But this was just phase-1

Phase-2 will follow the opening of the other flank of the Phase-1 project, along with its extention all the way upto Haji-Ali.

Phase-3 will see the sea-link go from Haji-Ali to Nariman Point, which I understand, should come up within ten years drom today, as India has got the technology as well as the money for it. Though the Phase-2 needs to be awarded to a contractor and the Phase-3 needs to get the green signal by the government as it is still lying as a proposal.

From what I understand, Bandra and Nariman point are two ends of Mumbai city which takes nearly two hours to navigate in regular city traffic. This time will come down to a scant half an hour when the Phase-3 part is up and running, making it really easy for Mumbaikars.

But traffic is slated to go up and so is time consumed, but thankfully, two and three wheelers have been banned from using the bridge.

I heard that this sealink is crowded with traffic, as it is toll free. And from Monday it may get free, as toll will be collected.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandra-Worli_Sea_Link

The Bandra Worli Sea Link will be an 8-lane, cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete viaduct approaches, which will link Bandra and the western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli and central Mumbai, and is the first phase of the proposed West Island Freeway system. The Rs. 1306 crore project of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is being executed by Hindustan Construction Company and is likely to be completed by December 2008. The Sea Link will enable speedy travel between Bandra and Worli.

Presently, the Mahim Causeway is the only link connecting the western suburbs to island city of Mumbai. The existing north–southwestern corridor is highly congested and during the peak hours results in a bottleneck at Mahim Causeway. The sea link will act as an alternate route between the western suburbs of Mumbai and central Mumbai, in addition to the existing Mahim Causeway. This link will also form a part of the west island freeway.

Access will be controlled on the Worli end by toll plazas on the Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Road, and on the Bandra end by toll plazas at Love Grove Junction.

Vehicular traffic measuring about 120,000 PCU travels on the Mahim Causeway everyday and during peak hours and it takes about forty minutes to travel from Mahim to Worli, a distance of about 8 km.

MSRDC has awarded the contract of constructing the Bandra Worli Sea-Link – Package - IV to the HCC (Hindustan Construction Company) and its foreign partner, the China Harbour Engineering Corporation, which has successfully completed similar projects. HCC has the responsibility of maintaining the bridge during the damage liability period of five years.

The original project design was modified to include two separate towers for the main cable stay bridge. In addition to this, the bridge was realigned around 150 meters into the sea and an additional cable stay bridge was introduced at the Worli side to increase the height of the bridge to accommodate the demands of local fishermen of Worli Koliwada to ease the vessel movement under the bridge closer to their habitat. Due to the change in the scope of work, the project was delayed in the initial stages, which resulted in increased project cost. Presently the work is in full swing and the Bandra Worli Sea-Link is expected to be complete by April 2008.

The Bandra Cable Stay Bridge, part of the Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL) was connected to the approach spans on May 27, 2008. This is a significant milestone towards completion of the Sea Link being built by HCC prior to the onset of Mumbai’s monsoon this season.

The Bandra Cable Stay section of the BWSL spans 600 m in length and towers to a height of 126 m (equivalent to a 43 storied building). The Cable Stay system comprises 2,250 km of high strength galvanized steel wires which support the Cable Stay Bridge weighing 20,000 ton. An engineering marvel and the first-ever open Sea Bridge of its kind, the Bandra Worli Sea Link is one of the most complex and advanced construction projects in India.

[edit] Project location

* The project starts from the Interchange at Mahim (i.e. intersection of Western Express Highway and Swami Vivekanand road at Bandra) and connects to Worli at Worli end with overall length of 5.6 km for the entire project.

* A cloverleaf interchange at Mahim intersection and a flyover at the Lovegrove intersection have been proposed as part of this project to enhance the faster and safe traffic dispersal.

[edit] Features

* An 8-lane bridge with 2 lanes dedicated for buses.
* Unique bridge design for the Link Bridge to emerge as a landmark structure in the city.
* Single tower supported 500 metre long cable-stayed bridge at Bandra Channel and twin tower supported 350 m cable-stayed bridge at Worli Channel for each carriageway.
* Modern toll plaza of 16 lanes with automated toll collection system.
* An intelligent bridge with state-of-the-art systems for traffic monitoring, surveillance, information and guidance, instrumentation, emergency support, etc.
* Development of promenade and landscaping to enhance the environment.

Project Benefits / Other Features

* Estimated savings in Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC): Rs. 100 Crores per annum.
* Considerable savings in travel time (20 to 30 minutes) due to increased speed and reduced delays (23 signals avoided)
* Stress free driving.
* Reduced accidents.
* Reduction in traffic on existing roads because of traffic diversion to the Sea Link. *
* Reduction in Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Oxide Levels in Mahim, Dadar, Prabhadevi and Worli along existing roads.
* Reduced noise pollution in Mahim, Dadar, Prabhadevi and Worli along existing roads.
* No adverse effect on fisheries, marine life and livelihood of fisherman.
* Landscaping along the approaches and waterfront promenade will enhance the environment and add green spots to the city.
* Mumbai gets a new landmark.

some of the explicit pictures of this landmark can been seen here where the whole project is been showcased from the day it started till it got over.
www.flickr.com/groups/bandra-worli-sealink/

some pics from my side:

Looks like the road is free after toll collection. Nice snaps raj. Here we have a habit of not paying tolls by just running over. Is there any chance for the same?

Rs 50 a ride might prove a bit expensive for the daily commuter. They should keep monthly passes at nominal rates...am sure Mumbaikars would agree with me on this point...what say Mumbai?

Been to this bridge today. What they claim to be 5 mins drive, turned out to be 25 mins for me. Got caught in traffic jam on bridge. Today was the 1st drive, but the experience was not good.

@ CC: No chance to jump toll.

Crazy cat wrote:Looks like the road is free after toll collection. Nice snaps raj. Here we have a habit of not paying tolls by just running over. Is there any chance for the same?

thanks buddy. btw, no chance of escaping tolls in mumbai. even my friend who has political contacts (which clearly reflects on his car!) has to pay the tolls everywhere.

car-o-static wrote:Rs 50 a ride might prove a bit expensive for the daily commuter. They should keep monthly passes at nominal rates...am sure Mumbaikars would agree with me on this point...what say Mumbai?

yes, or else they should bring down the toll to 35 or something.

abhi_qpotsiavs wrote:Been to this bridge today. What they claim to be 5 mins drive, turned out to be 25 mins for me. Got caught in traffic jam on bridge. Today was the 1st drive, but the experience was not good.

@ CC: No chance to jump toll.

hi abhi, even i had gone there on the same day! and i found it to be very empty as you can see in the pics. what time you went?

you guys could be together
in the second to the last picture, there is a passat
that could be abhi's!

archit wrote:you guys could be together
in the second to the last picture, there is a passat
that could be abhi's!

Lol. Even I was looking at the Passat trying to see it regn number. But its not visible. BTW i went by Tucson and time was 12.15 midnight.

so abhi at midnight, you still got trafic?

Yes. That was my 1st drive and even i was surprised. May be because of weekend.

archit wrote:you guys could be together
in the second to the last picture, there is a passat
that could be abhi's!

abhi_qpotsiavs wrote:

archit wrote:you guys could be together
in the second to the last picture, there is a passat
that could be abhi's!

Lol. Even I was looking at the Passat trying to see it regn number. But its not visible. BTW i went by Tucson and time was 12.15 midnight.

Lol... abhi, if that was your car, it would be a great co-incidence. but if you went by tucson, why were you trying to see the passat's number?

i had again gone there in my innova, have taken some pics again-

wow cool pics raj, what shocks is the time it takes may be its new and people do want to travel through this new bridge may be thats the reason it being more traffic on that route, and toll is too high for daily comute it should be somewhere around 25-30.