Mumbai (The Hindu): 650 railway staff, 50 engineers and two 300-tonne cranes dismantle the 136-year-old bridge near Sandhurst Road

Around 650 railway staff and 50 engineers dismantled the 136-year-old Hancock Railway overbridge near Sandhurst Road on Sunday in an18-hours operation during which train services on the Byculla-CST stretch were suspended. Commuter groups said the Railways authorities had taken the requisite precautions to prevent glitches.

Train services resumed successfully after the dismantling, though trains were not running at top speed, said Shailendra Kamble, convener of Pravas Adhikar Aandolan Samiti.

Two 300-tonne cranes were used to life the debris and another two 300-tonne cranes were kept as standby. Before the work began, the motorway leading up to the bridge was closed, utility cables and pipelines diverted and concrete removed from the troughs.

The rivets were cut and interconnected troughs were then separated by gas cutting. The Railways relayed continuous announcements for the benefit of passengers. The BEST and the MSRTC had pressed extra buses on the roads. Extra BEST buses were made available from stations where the long distance trains coming to Mumbai were terminated.

Photo credit: The Hindu