With the completion of three river crossings in Gujarat state over the past month, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor has made major advancements. These vital facilities have been successfully built by the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), signifying another key achievement in the advancement of this ambitious project.
In the Navsari district, the Purna River is crossed by the first finished river bridge. Nine full-span girders, each measuring 40 meters in length, make up the 360-meter-long bridge. The round piers that support the bridge have a diameter of 4 and 5 meters and a height between 10 and 20 meters.
Between the HSR stations in Bilimora and Surat is where the bridge is located.
The second river bridge measures 240 meters as it crosses the Mindhola River in the Navsari district.
Similar to while building the first bridge, the construction crew kept an eye on the high and low tides in the Arabian Sea.
The Ambika River is crossed by the third finished river bridge in the Navsari district.
The bridge is supported by piers that are round in shape and have diameters of 4.5 and 5.5 meters. The piers’ heights range from 12.6 to 23.4 meters. A high river bank slope, subterranean rocky strata, and the requirement to operate at a maximum pier height of approximately 26 meters, equivalent to a 10-story structure, were some of the difficulties that the construction process encountered.
With the recent bridge completions, there are now four river bridges that have been built for the MAHSR corridor in the last six months. There are 24 river crossings along the corridor, 20 of them in Gujarat and four in Maharashtra.
Notably, work is currently being done in Gujarat over the Narmada River to build the largest river bridge on the circuit, which would reach 1.2 kilometres. In addition, a 2.28-kilometre-long bridge over the Vaitarna River in Maharashtra will also be built.
Significant milestones have been reached in terms of the overall development of the MAHSR project. There have been 305.9 kilometres of piling work, 251.2 kilometres of foundation work, 208.9 kilometres of pier construction, and 69.3 kilometres of viaduct construction.
With regard to the HSR stations in Gujarat, eight stations, including Vapi Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati, are in various phases of construction.