Wind testing of cable bridge caught in corona turbulence

The wind testing of proposed cable stayed bridge to augment Mumbai-Pune Expressway is stuck due to the outbreak of COVID19 enforced lockdown, said a senior official requesting anonymity from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). MSRDC is the nodal agency to augment the exisiting Mumbai Pune Expressway also called as missing link project.

The official explained that the wind testing report for the construction of cable stayed bridge is made by a Canada based company but due to novel coronavirus as international flight services remain suspended, the fixed schedule to depart for Canada on July 27 from Mumbai has been cancelled.

"Now we are in talks with the appointed contractor and the foreign agency consulting whether it's possible to get the wind testing report online. However, on the other end since the bridge is crucial, officials presence is also necessary. We cannot rely on the agency report communicated online. Still we are trying to find out a suitable solution on it," he asserted.

Wind testing for any cable stayed bridge is essential to understand the velocity of wind in which the bridge can withstand strongly and what kind of architectural designing work and material will be required. The official stated, "We would have been given the topography details of the area where the bridge will be constructed and also through satellite images the foreign agency would have been created a prototype model in Canada itself in our presence and accordingly the study report would have been made. Even for the Worli-Bandra Sea link cable stayed bridge the same canada based agency had prepared the wind testing report."

The cable stayed bridge height from the ground will be 120 metres.