How veggie rot almost collapsed Mumbai's Mulund bridge

Rotting vegetables and fruits left behind by illegal hawkers almost brought down the southside public foot overbridge at Mulund railway station information obtained by midday has revealed The situation was worsened by illegal structural alterations made by the public toilet contractor who had built toilet units under the bridge The anomalies were noticed during an inspection last month The bridge has been repaired and will be reopened todayOfficials told midday this is a temporary measure and that a new bridge would be built a few metres away and this one dismantled The bridge is 48 years old and is scheduled to be replaced The new bridge will be constructed seven metres away on the CSMTendTwo bridges shutOn January 28 midday had highlighted the abrupt closure of both the stations public pedestrian bridges inconveniencing residents and commuters The one at Apna Bazar was repaired and safely opened to the publicThe corroded iron bars of the bridge right The newly repaired bridge PicsRajendra B AklekarRailway officials said they had been telling the BMC about the encroachment Public bridges on either end of railway stations are jointly managed by the railways and the BMC Mulund TWard BMC officials said they organise various drives at regular intervals during which hawkers are evicted and finedRailway officials said that during a thorough inspection of the bridge last month it was found to be lsquodistressedrsquo after which they decided to repair it urgently and put it to use till a new bridge is builtAlso Read Mumbai SCLR to get another extension at LBS MargRot runs deepldquoIt was found out that on the west side the portion of the bridge covered under the public toilet was dangerously altered and the main structure was damaged to accommodate the toilet units under the main columns and the staircaserdquo said a senior railway official ldquoAlso the entire length of this bridge deck on its sides is taken over by various kinds of vendors selling vegetables fruits and other goods The daily leftovers became a potential source for its deterioration over a period All the gusset plates of the bottom portion of the deck a plate that connects beams and girders to columns were badly corroded which required providing additional suspenders and support channels to take the load of the deck This consumed timerdquoThieves delay repairsThe controversial public toilet facade as seen from other side of bridgeIt was also observed that reinforced cement concrete RCC deck slab was worn out and the bottom members of the deck truss highly corroded ldquoThe contractor refused to close the toilet for over a month due to which repairs to the westside portion of FOB were delayedrdquo the officer said ldquoMore time was lost due to the theft of oxygen cylinders and some local nuisance But the work is now almost over We should be able to open one portion of this bridge from westside to the overhead booking office today and the rest by February 28rdquoA citywide problemMumbai has several hundred pedestrian bridges over its famed railway lines many of which are decadesold and in need of repairs Recent years have seen two bridges collapsendashone at Andheri and another at CSMTndashkilling at least eight peopleManoj Kotak local MPThe 2017 Elphinstone stampede on a narrow staircase in the railway station which killed 22 people led to a structural audit of railway bridges and repairs were carried out on a war footing But many such bridges are now at the end of their lifetimesThe science behind itSteel corrodes due to an electrochemical process that happens when moisture and oxygen are present simultaneously ldquoThe iron in the steel is oxidised to become rust which occupies many times the volume of the original materialrdquo said Jagdeep Desai an architect with four decades of experience and is a visiting faculty at several Mumbai collegesldquoThe rate at which the corrosion happens depends on a number of factors but mainly the lsquomicroclimatersquo immediately surrounding the structure which in this case were the cuttings The moisture in the cuttings continuously being in contact would have adversely contributed to the rusting corrosion and subsequent deterioration of the steel and its strengthrdquo471LAverage daily footfall on the bridge which is used by locals and commuters alike