Work on laying last deck of Mumbai-Navi Mumbai sea link to be completed on May 26, will cut travel time to 20 minutes

The work of laying the last deck on India’s longest sea bridge that will reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to a mere 20 minutes, will be completed by May 25-26, according to a Times of India report.

The 16.5 km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also known as the Sewri-Nhava Sheva Trans Harbour Link, will be connecting Mumbai with Navi Mumbai. When completed, it would cater to 70,000 vehicles daily.

The ToI report cited Mumbai Metropolitan commissioner SVR Srinivas as saying that once the work on launching the deck is completed the focus on waterproofing, asphalting, and construction of crash barriers on the sea link will get into full swing.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)  has speeded up the construction work ahead of the monsoon when rough weather sets in and it is difficult to move material and equipment.

The authority will also start working on installing CCTV cameras, lamp posts and toll infrastructure, Srinivas said.

This will also be the first sea bridge in India to have an Open Road Tolling (ORT) system on which motorists can drive past the toll booth at high speeds without slowing down to pay the toll.

 MMRDA is also planning to install artificial intelligence-based cameras that will allow the control room to be aware of vehicle breakdowns and the authorities can immediately tow away any vehicles that break down via the emergency lane so that no traffic jams are caused on the bridge.

Construction work on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) being built at a cost of around Rs 18,000 crore started in 2018 The bridge will also cut the travel time between Mumbai and other places like Goa, Pune, and Nagpur.