Army begins to earmark land for Elphinstone bridge

Mumbai: The much-awaited Elphinstone bridgework by the Army is slated to start within a week. The work is expected to affect train timings due to a large number of blocks that will be squeezed in due to the Army’s January 31 deadline. The Army was called in to help by Union minister Piyush Goyal after a stampede on September 29 caused deaths of 23 commuters during the morning peak hours.

For now, the Army has begun to merely earmark the area and the actual work will begin once the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Western Circle, gives the go ahead. An official said, “The CRS sanction is needed as he will check whether the distance between the new structures and running trains, as prescribed in our safety manual, are being maintained.”

After the getting the CRS’ appoval, the Western Railway (WR) plans to operate a block Saturday night and on Sunday for the work. An official said, “The major part of the blocks will be operated once the bridges are be brought in by cranes.”

Army officials on site said that laying the foundation of the bridges is what will take time and not the constructing bridge itself. The Army will be bringing in pre-fabricated structure known as a Bailey bridge, which cut down the time taken to buildsuch structures foundation work will take us about one month but other than that we will not require more than five days to physically place the bridge in place.”