Mumbai local trains will run slowly on the Bandra to Mahim Stretch this week. This is because of the Western Railway's (WR) 20–30 kmph speed limit over the Mithi River, which will be gradually increased to 45 kmph by the end of the week. Over the weekend, steel girders were installed in place of the rail bridge's cast iron piles, which date back to the British era and support the lines. The second phase of replacing the ancient cast iron screw piles with steel girders was completed by the WR authorities over two nights in between Friday and Sunday. 334 services were cancelled as a result of the two mega blocks, which WR used for 9.5 hours on both nights.
WR engineers claim that they disassembled and rebuilt the abutments on cast iron piles as part of phase 2. Additionally, they launched electrical, signal, and gearbox (S&T) gears, and steel girders. A 700MT crane, one standby crane, ten dumpers, a Poclain, two JCBs, a tamping machine, tower waggons, and roughly 150 labourers were used to complete the task. A WR official stated that this will help ensure the safe operation of trains, which was previously problematic due to the poor state of the cast-iron piling foundations. Given their age, the cast iron pile foundations were vulnerable to unexpected collapse.
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According to the official, there were a few difficulties, including coming up with a workable plan to lessen the effect on suburban rail traffic and building a "coffer dam" on the east and west sides of the existing piers in the Mithi River to have a two-way water flow and stop water intrusion while construction was underway. Since there was no direct route to the bridge site, all equipment and supplies had to be carried by obstructing three stabling lines, which are used for nighttime train parking.