MGCPL Launches Mumbai – Ahmedabad Bullet Train’s 1st OWG Bridge

M G Contractors Pvt. Ltd. (MGCPL) on Friday completed launching their first open web girder (OWG) bridge for Package P1(B) of the 508.17 km Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR Bullet Train) project.

Starting Wednesday early morning, this 70 meter long steel bridge (GAD 1134) was slowly pushed into position across national highway NH-53 using multiple rollers and hydraulic jacks. The site at chainage 254.585 is located south-east of Surat, Gujarat (view on Google Maps).

The bridge with roughly 700 pieces was manufactured in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur District and weighs 701 MT. Its the very first of 28 steel open web-girders to be launched for the entire bullet train project.

India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) had awarded M G Contractors with bridge package P-1(B)‘s Rs. 549.67 crore contract in September 2021. P1-B’s scope involves the construction of 4 PSC bridges and 7 steel truss bridges within 237.1 km civil package C4 (Vadodara – Zaroli) which is under construction by Larsen & Toubro.

Here’s a cool video by Kamlesh Deore on YouTube with historic footage of the site. Skip to 15:32 to see the bridge being pushed into position.

An estimated 70,865 MT of steel will be used for the fabrication of the line’s 28 steel bridges. Just last month, Zetwerk on a subcontract from Larsen & Toubro – IHI Infrastructure Systems completed trial assembly on a 130 meter long open web girder (OWG) to place over the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway – see details and pics.

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– TMRG