National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) has announced that the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor (MAHSR) corridor has made a significant progress as three river bridges have been completed in last one month in the state of Gujarat. The first river bridge was completed on Purna river, Navsari district. The bridge constructed on Purna river is 360-m-long bridge and consists of nine full span girders. The bridge is in between Bilimora and Surat HSR station. Continuous monitoring of high and low tides from Arabian Sea was done during the construction. Foundation work was challenging as water level in the river was rising 5-6 m (fortnightly) during high tides.
The second river bridge was completed on Mindhola river in Navsari district. This bridge is between Bilimora and Surat HSR station. The length of the bridge is 240 meters. The bridge consists of six full span girders of 40 meters each. The height of the piers is 10 m to 15 m and the circular piers are of 4 meter diameter.
The third river bridge was completed on Ambika river, Navsari district. This bridge is 200 metres long. This bridge is between Bilimora and Surat HSR station. It consists of five full span girders of 40 meters each. The major challenges faced during the construction process include steep slope of the river bank, underground rocky strata during piling, maximum pier height including pier cap was around 26 m (equal to 10 storey building), to work at this height was very challenging inside the river. Till date, four river bridges have been completed for MAHSR corridor in last six months. There are total 24 river bridges on MAHSR corridor (Gujarat and Maharashtra) out of which 20 are in Gujarat and 04 are in Maharashtra. The longest river bridge of 1.2 km is being constructed on Narmada river, Gujarat and 2.28 km long bridge will be constructed on Vaitarna river in Maharashtra.
