Mumbai’s new photo-op
This modern architectural marvel built over the Arabian Sea adds an element of stark beauty to the city’s skyline
The photogenic Bandra-Worli Sea Link has been making headlines ever since it was an idea–inviting ire as well as hope. Finally, after four years and eight months of frenetic construction, it opens today
Bridge basics
The what, how and how many of the Sea Link
• The 5.6km-long cable-stayed bridge with eight lanes is 63 times the height of the Qutab Minar
• It is made with 90,000 tonnes of cement and 40,000 tonnes of steel
• The cost of illuminating the bridge will be Rs9 crore per year
• The total cost of the project is Rs1,650 crore
• Conceived in the 1990s, and plagued by a series of public interest litigations from fishermen and environmentalists, work on the project could not take off till October 2004
• The height of the central towers is 126m
• The company which executed the project is Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd, with consultants from the UK-based Dar Consultants
• The total length of the high-tension steel wire used for the bridge is 38,000km, equivalent to the earth’s circumference
• It has 2,353 precast segments, each weighing 150 tonnes
• 3,000 people worked on the bridge every day
Tidal information during its construction came from the Netherlands
• Among the various kinds of equipment used to build the bridge was the Asian Hercules, a 1,260-tonne steel structure that was imported in 2006 to lift
• One of the first visitors to go for a trial trip on the Sea Link was actor Amitabh Bachchan
