Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will complete the work of laying of deck on the entire 16.5km sea bridge stretch of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link(MTHL) by May 25-26. The MMRDA's goal is to open the entire bridge connecting the island city of Mumbai to Navi Mumbai by December 2023. Nearly, 180m of the deck remains to be launched. Metropolitan commissioner SVR Srinivas told TOI, "The entire deck will laid by May 25-26, after which vehicles will be allowed to take the bridge." It's necessary to complete the work before the arrival of monsoon as ferrying machinery and material when there's strong current in the water will be huge task. "After launch of the entire deck, all energies will be utilised on water proofing, asphalting and construction of crash barriers," said Srinivas.
The entire length of the project is 22 kilometres, including 5.5 kilometres of approach roads on either side.When done, the work will move to the next stage – installation of crash barriers, waterproofing of the engineering superstructure, asphalting of the deck, erection of view cutters, creation of toll area, and installation of security and surveillance system, etc. So far 95% of the work has been completed. Early on May 9, the last orthotropic steel deck was launched on MTHL. Srinivas added that open road tolling will be put in place in the next few months.This six-lane bridge is scheduled for completion in November and the revised cost stands at Rs17,843 crore. Japan International Cooperation Agency is financing 85% of the project.
Built at a cost of around ₹18,000 crore, MTHL will significantly reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. It will be possible to travel from Sewri in central Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai in 15-20 minutes. The 22 km long bridge will bring places like Goa, Pune, and Nagpur closer to Mumbai.The project is being developed by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). MMRDA is a Maharashtra government agency, financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.