WR BEGINS AUDIT OF FOBs

The Western Railway (WR) has begun a structural audit of all road overbridges (ROBs) in its suburban section from July 13. Senior railway officials said they first inspected the Mahalaxmi and Bandra road overbridges, with a new time-saving method using a tower wagon. Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), WR said the new mode of inspection has been devised to complete inspection in two hours, cutting down inspection time by 50 per cent.

“Inspection with a tower wagon allows the whole team to climb with tools and machinery and the required task can be performed simultaneously. During inspection, if any urgent repair is needed, it can be undertaken immediately,” added Bhakar.

This move comes after the Andheri road overbridge collapse on July 3, killing one and injuring four others. A blame game ensued between the civic body and the Railways with both sides insisting the bridge was not in their jurisdiction.

After the incident, a meeting was held at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on July 5 and it was decided a 10-member team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), chief engineers from Western and Central Railways and engineers from the BMC would conduct monthly audits of the city’s 445 bridges, including railway road overbridges (ROBs), foot overbridges (FOBs) and skywalks.

WR General Manager AK Gupta said it was decided to conduct a detailed inspection of this ROB as it was very old. The bridge inspection team along with two tower wagons and concerned staff were deployed to carry out a detailed inspection from 11am to 13.45pm over the yard line and Mahalaxmi station's Platform No. 1.

In the Mumbai suburban section ( Churchgate-Virar), there are 110 FOBs, 29 ROBs and 4 water pipeline bridges.