Press Release

• JICA has extended an ODA loan of 211,704 million Japanese Yen (approximately INR 13,658 Crore) for the MTHL Bridge project
• The first tranche of loan agreement was signed in March 2017 and the second one in March 2020
• The project is expected to be completed by September 2023

New Delhi, January 14, 2022: The first Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) span for the 10.380 km of civil work Package 1 section, western half of the bridge, was erected today. The civil work Package 1 is awarded to the consortium of Larsen & Tourbo (L&T) Limited (India) & M/s IHI Infrastructure Systems Co. Ltd. (Japan).

Financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), MTHL Bridge is an under-construction 21.8 km long six-lane marine road bridge implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). Sea crossing section of around 16.5 km and land section of remaining 5.3 km connects Mumbai with Navi Mumbai and is expected to mitigate traffic congestion in the island city and promote economic development in Navi Mumbai. The Link has interchanges at Sewri in Central Mumbai, Shivaji Nagar at Mumbai Bay and NH-4 B at Chirle, Navi Mumbai.

The bridge, when completed, would be the longest sea bridge in India and would cater to 70,000 vehicles daily.

OSD bridge has lesser self-weight but stronger structure than concrete or composite girder bridges, which requires fewer and smaller piers. 180m length OSD, which is applied to the MTHL Bridge, is world's longest level of span length that requires advanced manufacturing technology and severe quality control. IHI Infrastructure System, under IHI Corporation, a comprehensive heavy-industry manufacturer, has achieved its highest fabrication quality by using its group factory mainly in Japan and Vietnam with supervision of their Japanese higher skilled fabrication engineers. OSD contributes to shorter construction period and mitigation of safety-risks at the project site since it is manufactured in a factory and requires lesser on-site work. Moreover, fewer and smaller piers and shorter construction period mean less impact on environment and ecosystem.

The deck segments were separated into six to eight blocks as 30 MT maximum and delivered to the site in total 33 shipments by ocean liner. These blocks were assembled at the project site into erection units, maximum length 180m, maximum weight around 2,600 MT, and moved on SPMT (Self-Propelled Modular transporter) to the temporary jetty. OSD were loaded onto the special barge equipped with lifting towers with 16 numbers of 300 MT strand jacks and lifted up with the strand jacks onto the piers. Then, the barge was towed for 4 to 8km to the erection location.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. SAITO Mitsunori, Chief Representative, JICA India said, "The MTHL Project is a shining example of JICA's focus on quality infrastructure and strong India-Japan partnership. Once completed, the project will reduce the travel time from South Mumbai to Navi Mumbai from 120 minutes to merely 20 minutes. I am confident that the project would contribute to decongestion of the island city and further development of the Navi Mumbai Area. I am very pleased to inform that Japanese expert had recommended the adoption of the OSD for the project on account of environmental and navigational challenges and Japanese companies such as IHI corporation and JFE steel are involved in the project. I strongly hope that some of the approaches and innovative technologies, adopted under MTHL become models of excellence, which could be replicated in other infrastructure projects in India."

About JICA

Established, by a specific law, as an incorporated administrative institution under the Government of Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) aims to contribute to the promotion of international cooperation, as a sole Japanese governmental agency in charge of ODA implementation. JICA is the world's largest bilateral donor agency. JICA works as a bridge between Japan and emerging countries, and provides assistance in forms of loan, grant and technical cooperation so that the emerging countries can strengthen their capabilities.

• JICA India Office Web
• JICA India Brochure
• JICA Facebook Page (external link)

For further information, please contact:

JICA India Office
Shusaku Takada / Aishwarya Mishra
+91 11 49097000
Takada.Shusaku@jica.go.jp
Mishra-Aishwarya@jica.go.jp

Edelman India
Rakhi Aurora
+91 95990 67185
Rakhi.Aurora@edelman.com

About MTHL:

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also known as the SewriNhavaShevaHarbourLink is a under-construction of about 22 km long, 6-lane bridge with about 16.5km long over the sea and about 5.5kms long viaduct on land on either side. The Link has interchanges at Sewri in Central Mumbai, Shivaji Nagar at Mumbai Bay and NH-4 B at Chirle, Navi Mumbai. The MTHL will feature approach sections, interchanges, intelligence transport system (ITS) and the other amenities required for a sea bridge. The traffic conditions on the stretch will be monitored and managed from the traffic control centre with the help of CCTV cameras and related facilities installed on the stretch. The total of length of spans of the OSD superstructure in both carriageways of MTHL is about 6.41 km. The width of the steel superstructure is about 14.92m for each carriageway.

The total steel quantity to be used for the OSD superstructure in MTHL will be about 87,452 MT. The span erected on 14th January 2022 has length of 118.8 mtrs with total weight of about 1331 Mt. This is a very important stage and it accelerate the construction of MTHL that will connect South Mumbai to the Navi Mumbai in a mere 20 minutes as compared to the current travel time of 120 minutes.

About Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) Construction at MTHL:

The Orthotropic Steel Deck is a steel Deck Superstructure (strengthened or stiffened both transversely and longitudinally which will carry the vehicular load more efficiently among three planes and improve the load-carrying capacity of the bridge as compared to Concrete Superstructure for similar span. OSD Steel Deck Superstructure has lesser self-weight than concrete or composite girders and a longer span of 180 mtrs is designed using OSD for this project by the Contractor (L&T-IHI Consortium). OSD is the ideal solution considering MTHL site conditions (Navigational Channels, Discharge Channels) and longer Pier to Pier distances. It is also more cost-effective compared to the Cable Stay or Suspension bridges.

The steel spans are fabricated in fabrication workshop facilities located in Japan,Vietnam, Taiwan etc. and delivered to India which will enable faster construction work and lessen deck-related on-site activities. The final assembly, of 1st OSD span was done in last fortnight of December 2021 and load-out /erection of the superstructure at Pier Location MP124N-125N was carried out on-site on 14th January 2022. A barge, which was specifically designed and manufactured by L&T at its own Shipbuilding facility at Kattupalli, Chennai is being used for the transportation of these heavy Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) sections. This is a flat top ballastable barge having weight of 5359 MT with 110 mtrs in length and 64 mtrs in breadth which is equivalent to size of actual football ground area. The depth of the barge is 6 mtrs with deck strength of 15 T/m2.