Mumbai connections

The island city of Mumbai on India’s west coast relies heavily on sea bridges to connect various parts of the city to each other and to the mainland – such as the under-construction Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, which like the Bandra-Worli Sea Link before it is being equipped with mageba bearings and expansion joints.

When construction is completed in 2023, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will be India's longest sea bridge, with a length of 21.8 kilometres. It will connect the island city of Mumbai with the district of Navi Mumbai, across the sea inlet that separates them. The entire project is divided into three packages of lengths 10.38 km, 7.8 km and 3.6 km.

A large number of bearings were required for Package 02, the main crossing of length 7.8 kilometres, to support the superstructure on its many piers. Having designed and manufactured the bearings and expansion joints used in the construction of the Bandra Worli Sea Link a decade earlier, the supply specialists at mageba’s Kolkata subsidiary were in a good position to offer their expertise towards the building of the city’s next major sea bridge. Following detailed consultations, the use of RESTON®SPHERICAL bearings was agreed upon – a type of bearing that had already been used in numerous bridge construction projects around India, such as the Chenab Railway Bridge, the New Jubilee Bridge in Kolkata and the Statue of Unity access bridges in Gujarat. Over 400 of these bearings have now been supplied, designed for vertical loads of up to 30,990 kN, horizontal forces of up to 9720 kN and, in some cases, uplift forces of 1250 kN. Where required by the bridge’s design, they were also supplied with the ability to accommodate sliding movements of 250 mm.

The project also requires a number of expansion joints for Packages 01 and 02, for which mageba will supply suitably designed joints of the TENSA®MODULAR type – the type used in such other major Indian bridges as the Wazirabad Signature Bridge in Delhi (12-gap joints) and the Second Hooghly Bridge in Kolkata (11-gap joints). The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link’s expansion joints shall have movement capacities of 400 mm (type LR5, with 5 gaps), 480 mm (type LR6), 560 mm (type LR7) and 640 mm (type LR8). Some of the 7-gap joints shall be designed to additionally accommodate large transverse movements of up to 155 mm. Further special features include designing for connection to steel structures without concreting, and designing to avoid becoming dislodged during an earthquake. 

This project reinforces once again one of the main principles upon which mageba has operated since it was founded in 1963 – and more locally, since the company’s Kolkata subsidiary was established in 2007: the value of local connections in each market we serve. In many countries we achieve this by means of a permanent presence in the form of production facilities, sales offices or agents. But perhaps more important in terms of gaining and keeping clients’ confidence, leading to connections for future projects, is the competence of our people in clarifying and meeting project requirements and the long-term performance of the products they supply. This is what we aim for, every day and on every project – in India and everywhere else around the world. 

Bridge designer: COWI for Package 01, and WS Atkins India Pvt. Ltd. & Ramboll India Pvt. Ltd for Package 02
Contractor: Larsen & Toubro Construction Limited for Packages 01 and 03, and Daewoo - Tata Projects Limited JV for Package 02
Owner: Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will be India's longest sea bridge, with a length of 21.8 kilometres (Source: www.reddit.com)

Construction of two sections of structure coming together, each supported by two mageba bearings on each pier

A RESTON®SPHERICAL bearing of the longitudinally guided sliding type, with uplift resistance, after being lifted into position on site

Installation – including checking of alignment – prior to concreting in place of one of the over 400 RESTON®SPHERICAL bearings supplied by mageba for the project

The Bandra Worli Sea Link, another of Mumbai’s most important bridges, equipped in 2009 with 26 TENSA®MODULAR expansion joints and 126 RESTON®DISC bearings

RESTON®SPHERICAL bearings have previously been used in numerous bridges across India, such as the Chenab Railway Bridge

The New Jubilee Bridge in Kolkata was also equipped with RESTON®SPHERICAL bearings when constructed in the middle of the last decade

And bearings of the same type were also used in the construction of the access bridges to the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, north of Mumbai