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Project X-ray<br>Flying on Mumbai's J.J. Flyover
By Prashant C. Trikannad
Till May 2002, the road from J.J. Hospital to Palton Road, a distance of more than 2 km, was the most congested neighbourhood in Mumbai. It was notorious for its 24-hour buzz of activity. Hawkers and vendors, cars and buses, bicycles and handcarts, residents and small businessmen, and pedestrians converged on the road each day to make free movement virtually impossible. A flyover here was unthinkable. Yet, Gammon India Ltd, one of the country's leading construction companies, went and built one in just 28 months.
Today, the 2.4-km long J.J. Hospital Flyover, as it is called, has narrowed travel time from Palton Road in south Mumbai to the central parts of the city from 30 minutes at the least to just 5 minutes. The snake-like flyover twists and turns its way through a labyrinth of old buildings on either side. It traverses through 22 small and big junctions and six curves.
What is amazing about the flyover, the longest in Mumbai so far, is not its unique design but that Gammon India managed to build it in a locality that never goes to sleep. "The task of building a flyover in an area more crowded than any other place in Mumbai was initially a nightmare," says C. Bhattacharjee, Vice President of the company. "In the end it was both a unique and enriching experience." The flyover tested the project management skills of Gammon's engineers to the optimum levels.
In the planning of the flyover, Dar Consultants UK Ltd, the consultants for the project, and Gammon India, the contractor, had a common purpose: A design that ensured optimum use of space beneath the flyover and handling traffic and dealing with underground utilities during construction work. "Normally a flyover is built on two piers. Dar Consultants suggested an innovative design for the flyover: an elevated viaduct on a single pier that did not compromise on the road width of the flyover and provided adequate space for traffic lanes and parking space below the flyover," Bhattacharjee explains.
Although Gammon India worked on the project during peak hours, some major works like erection of machines and segments were carried out between 1 am and 4 am when traffic was minimum. During construction, engineers had to negotiate through a maze of underground utilities from water supply mains and storm water drains to electric and gas supply lines and telephone cables, necessitating design changes wherever diversion of the utilities was not possible. One instance was the discovery of a 110-year old 800-metre long storm water drain that ran nearly the length of the flyover.
Some aspects of the J.J. Hospital flyover stand out. The aesthetically designed 55 single piers (columns) were built in such a way as to occupy very little space. The piers have a fluted finish.
Project X-ray<br>Flying on Mumbai's J.J. Flyover
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