Sion flyover to be closed for traffic movement for 40 days

Mumbai: The Sion flyover will be closed for 40 days as the work to change its shock absorber bearings is likely to begin before Diwali. The first stock of jacks will arrive in Mumbai by Monday. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is awaiting police permission to start work.

The MSRDC decided to change the shock absorber bearings of the flyover after the IIT structural audit report. The work was supposed to start in April however it got delayed as the shock absorber bearings were not available with the contractor at the time.

A MSRDC officer said, “The shock absorber bearings used in the Sion flyover are made to order, which takes time. A total 140 bearings will be replaced in this work.”

“The first lot of 50 jacks will be received by coming Monday and nearly 50 shock absorber bearings will arrive in Mumbai by October 15. So, the MSRDC is planning to take permission from the Sion police to start work,” he said.

The jacks and bearings will be kept under the flyover. “It will take at least two to three months for the entire work to be completed. But the flyover will be closed for traffic movement for 40 days,” the officer said.

According to MSRDC sources, the MMRDA may start work on the much-awaited Chunabhatti-BKC elevated expressway by the end of September. The MSRDC is waiting for an announcement from the MMRDA as this will aid the Sion flyover work and avoid traffic jams there.

The Sion flyover has been in media reports in the past due to its inferior quality of bearings wherein the commuters have pointed out worn-out bearings on the flyover. Bearing is placed between the piers and bridge deck to allow controlled movement.

According to a 2011 study, a total of three lakh vehicles pass through Sion daily and it is considered as one of the busiest locations of Mumbai.