Ahmedabad Metro’s Sabarmati Bridge Starts Taking Shape

In central Ahmedabad, a new 298.20 meter long bridge is slowly taking shape over the Sabarmati River for Ahmedabad Metro’s 20.737 km Line-1. This crucial bridge has faced many design challenges including the flooding of a group of piles, but work is now moving ahead.

This 8-span bridge, between the Old High Court Station and West Ramp, will have an incline ever so slightly and be 14.209 meter tall at its highest point (Pier P244) and 11.693m at its lowest point (Pier P249). Within the river, it will be 263.60m long and comprise of 6 piers from Pier P244 (towards Thaltej Gam) to P249 (towards Vastral Gam).

Layout plan of Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Bridge (view large)

Construction for it is being carried out by Tata Projects Ltd – China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (TPL-CCECC) JV as part of the 39.259 km Phase 1 project‘s Reach-2 which was awarded in January 2017 with a value of Rs. 721 crore.

During the bridge’s final design stage, the bridge’s well foundation was eliminated and changed to a pile foundation. The team was going to use precast U-girders for span P250 to P251, which was eliminated in favor of using composite girders.

Work in August 2020 came to a halt as the temporary bridge built for facilitating its construction got washed away by strong river currents. Also, a group of piles for pier P244 on the western side got submerged in water which had to be pumped out.

Reach-2 of Ahmedabad Metro (Thaltej Gam – Sabarmati River) – view Phase 1 project information & route map

Fun Facts

  • Pier Average Height: 12.951m
  • Pier Cap Height: 2.1 meters
  • 1st Pile Driven: July 2, 2019 at Pier P247
  • 1st Pile Cap Cast: January 31, 2020 at P248
  • 1st Pier Cast: February 8, 2020 at P248
  • 1st Pier Cap Cast: August 1, 2020 at P248

Here are some images shared by follower Authentic Rao. Within the river, 3 of 6 piers are now ready.

Left to Right: Pier P250 (embedded in the riverfront’s retaining wall) and Piers P249 – P247
Pier P244 in the making
Launching gantry on the west-side of the riverfront

This bridge is on the extreme eastern-end of Ahmedabad Metro’s Reach-2. On the extreme-west, TPL-CCECC is constructing a 165 meter long balanced cantilever (CLC) bridge at Thaltej – see details and images.

For more updates on India’s metro systems, check out my Home Page!

– TMRG

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

12 Responses to "Ahmedabad Metro’s Sabarmati Bridge Starts Taking Shape"

  1. Dileep Nayak says:

    How long is the longest span?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      43.8 meters. Check out the large version of the design schematic – all spans between P245 to P249 are 43.8m long.

      Reply
  2. Kanishka says:

    From Peir-241 to 254, the chainage runs from 6953.215 to 7402.415, with rail level falling from 59.082m to 52.001m. Thus, giving a slope (or gradient or grade) of 63.44: 1 (449.2: 7.081) i.e. 1m goes vertically down over every 63.44m of horizontal travel.

    This slope may be acceptable on metro lines; the usual slope on IR lines is upto 100:1 (1 in 100), on DFC it’s kept at 200:1 (2 in 100).
    https://dfccil.com/Home/DynemicPages?MenuId=75

    ..btw, how do you get access to such drawings? Are these drawings available in public domain? If so, pls pass the link..

    Reply
  3. Anurag Kumar says:

    When can we expect Patna Metro Line-1’s Elevated Section tenders to be awarded??
    Line 1 has already received 4 bidders..
    When will they invite tender for line 1 underground section without which access to Patliputra ramp to Danapur will not have any connection to depot..
    I think that’s why they are taking longer time to award line 1 elevated section tender..

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      1. I’m waiting for them to open financial bids – should happen within the next couple months. Dates are not announced to the public.
      2. Design is under preparation. As soon as that is done and funding is tied up, they will invite bids. This UG package has no bearing on elevated package’s award.

      Reply
  4. Hemendra says:

    Ahmedabad Dholera MRTS aporoval is in the News? Can you confirm if it is indeed approved or merely proposed? Also the news item says it will be Monorail with Last Station at Grade which looks unlikely as Monorails are not suitable for such long distance nor I am aware of any Monorail at Grade. Can you clarify is it true?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, I read that TOI article. I don’t believe the project has been approved.

      1) it says ‘Draft DPR’ has been approved
      2) the state government’s cabinet has not announced an approval ; no other local media (eg. Desh Gujarat) have reported it. Article refers to “sources”
      3) It says both centre and state have given approval (heh?)

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply to Dileep Nayak Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *