4th OWG for Mumbai – Ahmedabad Bullet Train Launched Near Silvassa

M G Contractors Pvt. Ltd. (MGCPL) on Sunday completed launching their fourth open web girder (OWG) bridge of the 508.17 Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR Bullet Train) project.

This 100 meter long steel bridge (GAD-68) for Package P1(B) was slowly pushed into position over one of the many sheds of the 220 kV Bhilosa Switching Substation using multiple rollers and hydraulic jacks. The launch site at MAHSR’s chainage 159+720 is located in Naroli village, just east of Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli (view on Google Maps).

The 14.6m tall & 14.3 wide bridge weighs 1464 MT, and was manufactured in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. A temporary launching nose spanning 84 meters and weighing 600 MT was connected with the main bridge for launching. Additional temporary members were also installed to strengthen the bridge during launching.

Per NHSRCL’s press release, a total of 27,500 nos. of HSFG (High-strength friction grip) bolts were utilised to connect the components of launching nose and approximately 55,250 nos. of Tor-Shear Type High Strength (TTHS) bolts with C5 system painting and elastomeric bearings, were utilized for the main bridge.

The steel bridge along with launching nose were assembled near the site at a height of 14.5 m from the ground on temporary trestles and was pulled with automatic mechanism of 2 number of semi-automatic jacks, each of capacity of 250 ton using mac-alloy bars.

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. P1B’s scope involves the launch of 4 PSC bridges and 7 steel truss bridges within 237.1 km civil Package C-4 (Vadodara – Zaroli) which is under construction by Larsen & Toubro.

A cool video by NHSRCL can be viewed here on X.

An estimated 70,865 MT of steel will be used to fabricate at least 28 bridges for India’s first Bullet Train project. With this development, 2 bridges each have been launched for packages P1(B) and P1(C).

Here’s a list of all 4 bridges launched so far. Click on the links to see images and details:

• GAD-1134 (70m, 673 MT) – over National Highway NH-53 near Surat for P1(B) in October 2023
• GAD-31 (99.6m, 1486 MT) – over Vadodara – Ahmedabad Railway Line near Nadiad for P1(C) in April 2024
• GAD-1967 (130m, 3098 MT) – over Delhi – Mumbai Expressway near Vadodara for P1(C) in June 2024
• GAD-68 (100m, 1464 MT) – over Bhilosa Switching Substation near Silvassa for P1(B) in August 2024 (this post!)

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– TMRG