CONSTRUCTION OF SKYWALK FROM BANDRA SUBURBAN

RAILWAY STATION (EAST)TO KALANAGAR BY M.M.R.D.A

-A CASE STUDY

Prof Nagajuna Pilaka Prof. Arjita Majumdar

Asst Professor, NICMAR, Pune Lecturer, Civil Engineering Department
M.I.T Pune-38

ABSTRACT

The Mumbai Skywalk Project is a series of skywalks in and around the metropolitan region of Mumbai. The
project was initiated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Currently, 50 projects
are planned, with 18 of them to be built by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. The
Bandra-Kurla Skywalk is the first skywalk to be built among them.Bandra is one of the major suburban
station in Mumbai. More than thousand suburban trains operation take place every day. About 5 lacs
commuters traveling through this station, out of this 39% of commuters approach the station by walk, while
32% by bus 16% by Auto and 13% by other modes. With the development of Bandra-Kurla Complex(BKC)
in the last few years, the commuters from BKC have substantially increased. Further, the Western Railway
is developing the Bandra Terminal about 1 km north of the suburban station and operations from this
terminal are also increasing every year.. Considering this the Bandra Station Area Traffic Improvement
Scheme (SATIS) has been included in the priority works under Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project MUIP
master plan. After considering several alternatives it is decided to develop Skywalk from Bandra (E) to
Kalanagar and Bandra (W) to Hill road and Mohd. Raffi Chowk on priority. Skywalk form Bandra (E) to
Kalanagar has been completed as pilot project. The Skywalk between Bandra Station from existing Foot
Over Bridge (F.O.B) to Kalanagar has been constructed to serve the commuters traffic between BKC and
the Station. The work included construction of Skywalk from Bandra suburban railway F.O.B to
Kalanagar. It is 1300 m. long and 4 m. wide walk way and with 4 staircases at various locations. This
Skywalk is covered by multi wall polycarbonate sheet for weather protection to the pedestrian. The
integration arrangements with the railway for provision of ticket counter, if required by railway are being
finalized. The present paper deals with the Bandra skywalk from its inception stage to its completion.

Key words: Skywalk, Bandra

INTRODUCTION

Transport interchange activities, passenger transfer between trains, buses, taxies & private vehicles make the
station area most congested. The problem aggravates with the road side hawking and vehicular parking. The
Sky walk is an elevated walk way dedicated to the pedestrians connecting the railway station/ high
concentration commercial area and destination points where concentration of pedestrians prevail. The
purpose of the sky walk is for efficient dispersal of commuters from station/congested area to strategic
locations viz. bus stops, taxi stands, shopping areas, off roads etc. and vice versa. This would help decongest
the crowded streets.

Mumbai with its population of over 12 million is the commercial and financial capital of India generating
5% of India’s GDP and contributing 30% of country’s Tax revenue. More than 10 million passenger use
suburban railway and bus service everyday. All public transport users start and end their journey as
pedestrians only. The ever increasing automobile usage and increased speeds on account of changing vehicle
technology, improvement of road geometrics and driver’s habit made it essential to develop pedestrian
safety facilities. Road side friction and encroachments also call dedicated facility around the suburban
stations and congested areas. Suburban rail is the backbone of Mumbai’s transport system. Over the last 5
decades the Station areas have emerged as nodal points for retail business. Concentration of transport
interchange activities; passenger transfer between Suburban trains, BEST buses, taxi/ auto rickshaw and
private vehicles make the stations most congested. Presence of vegetable and fruit venders and other
hawkers along with unauthorized extensions of shops make it extremely difficult for commuters to walk
outside stations and reach respective destinations. To combat this massive problem and give priority to
pedestrians, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) conceived the project of
skywalks under the Station Area Improvement Scheme (SATIS).
Some skywalks can also boost of a shopping plaza . Special care is taken to ensure that movement of
commuters is not affected by segregating shopping/ hawking area. The provision of shopping hawking zones
will give way to clearing the footpaths thereby providing thrice the capacity for pedestrians.
Bandra Skywalk

Bandra suburban railway station is a major station with more than 1000 services operations every day. With
the development of Bandra Kurla Complex and its surrounding areas, Western Railway terminal and growth
of commercial activities the Bandra station area is experiencing very high traffic and pedestrians
volume.The Skywalk from Bandra station (East) to kalanagar was taken up for implementation by MMRDA
as a pilot project with the cooperation of Western Railway and MCGM.

The Skywalk between Bandra Station from existing F.O.B to Kalanagar has been constructed to serve the
commuters traffic between BKC and the Station. The work included construction of Skywalk form Bandra
suburban railway Foot Over Bridge to Kalanagar.

The general features are as follows:-

• Length of the Skywalk – 1300 m.
• Width of the Skywalk – 4.0 m. clear walkway
• Structural details – The Skywalk construction consists of elevated walkway of 4.0x3.0 m. framed
structure with Polycarbonate Sheet as roofing and resting on 1.0 m. dia. Pier of ht. approximately 6.0 m.
above the ground level.
• No. of Staircase – 4 Nos.
• Staircase location – Anant Kanekar Marg Police Chowki, Near ONGC Building, Kalanagar on either
side of Sion-Dharavi Road.

CONTRACT DETAILS

On 15th October, 2007, MMRDA invited bids for the work ’Construction of Sky Walk for Bandra Suburban
station (East) to Kalanagar ’ on lump sum basis, from the experienced contractors registered in appropriate
class with Government of Maharashtra or other State Governments/ Government of India, CPWD/ NHAL
Government undertakings and carried out similar type of works. The project consisted of Design and
Construction of Sky Walk structure at Bandra ( East). The Complete set of bid document could be purchased
for the Office of MMRDA at Bandra East form 16th October to 30th October 2007 on submission of a written
application along with attested copies of registration certificates, IT-PAN, V and on payment of Rs 5,000/-
( non refundable). Last date for submitting the bid document was 2nd November 2007.

Eligibility criteria for the Bidder was as follows

• Achieved, minimum annual turn over of over of Rs 2000 lakh ( in all class of civil
engineering construction work) in two financial years, in last five years ending 31st
March 2007.
• Successfully completed as prime contractor
 • One civil engineering construction work costing not less than RS 1000 Lakh in last 5
years.
• One Structural Steel work involving fabrication and erection costing not less than Rs. 400
Lath in the last 5 years.
• Constructed one foot over bridge in last 10 years
Project Status

Contractor: - M/S. DAS Offshore

Consultant: - M/S. S. N. Bhobe Associates
Project Cost : Rs. 13,63,15,000/-
Project Period : 6 months
Issue of Work order : 27th December, 2007
The Project have been completed and opened to public with effect from 24th June, 2008.

M/s Das Offshore Engg. Pvt. Ltd. was appointed as the contractor for the total cost of Rs.13.63 Cr. The
construction for the project was initiated from 27th December, 2007. the construction has been completed and
the same was inaugurated on 24th June, 2008 under the hands of Chief minister, Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh. The
the construction of skywalk was completed in record breaking period of 6 months. The Skywalk has now been
opened for the use of Pedestrians and the procedure for Operations and Maintenance of the Skywalk has been
initiated by inviting tenders.

The Skywalk from Bandra station (East) to kalanagar was taken up for implementation by MMRDA as pilot
project with the cooperation of Western Railway and MCGM.

The Alignment and Designs of the skywalk was finalized based on the following points

• Dispersal/entry points at strategic locations

• Under ground utilities and minimum number of structures affected
• Available road widths
• Proximity of adjacent buildings
• No. of trees, large and small size, getting affected
• Provision of shops on the sky walk, if any, on one side or both the sides or on upper deck with a view
to provide easy pedestrian movement
• Speed of construction
• Commuter safety
• Operation & maintenance, etc.

GENERAL FEATURES OF THE SKYWALK

Bandra SATIS:- The considering the Bandra Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme has been included
in the priority works under MUIP master plan. After considering several alternatives it is decided to develop
Skywalks from Bandra (E) to Kalanagar and Bandra (W) to Hill road and Mohd. Raffi Chowk on priority.
Skywalk form Bandra (E) to Kalanagar has been completed as pilot project.The Skywalk between Bandra
Station from (Existing Foot Over Bridge to Kalanagar has been constructed to serve the commuters traffic
between BKC and the Station.) The work included construction of Skywalk form Bandra suburban railway
Foot Over Bridge to Kalanagar. It is 1300 m. long and 4 m. wide walk way and 4 staircase at various
locations. This Skywalk proposed is covered by multi wall polycarbonate sheet for weather protection to the
pedestrian. The integration arrangements with the railway for provision of ticket counter, if required by
railway are being finalized.

Total Commuters 5.00 lakh daily

 Commuters from East 2.50 lakh daily

Modal split 39% walk, 32%bus, 16% Auto.

Major Area of destination BKC, MHADA, Kalanagar etc.

Distance covered 1.3 Km (Bandra East to Kalanagar)

Walkway (width) 4.0 m wide with Poly carbonate roofing and

anti skid tile flooring

Entry /Exit points(staircases) Annat Kanekar Road, Indian Oil Building,

Nandadeep Garden and Kalanagar Bus Stand.

Cost of Project 13.63 Cr

Operation and Maintenance Facility management agency to be appointed

on contract who shall clean, maintain and
provise 24hr security

Proposals in Bandra (West) Skywalk from Bandra (W) station to S.V

Road connecting Bada Masjid, Md. Rafi
Chowk, Bandra Talav.

Proposed lifts Kalanagar and Annat Kanekar Road

(For Senior citizens and handicapped) Police Post

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Substructure
Substructure Consist of Mini piles of 10m depth of Pre-stressed Pre-cast type. For designing the Piles ,
the samples from bore were taken and tested at site and analyzed for establishing design parameters.
Tests such as standard penetration test compression and shear test on undisturbed samples were carried
on for establishing the design parameters.
The pile foundation was designed considering the various load combination forces and permissible
stresses as per the latest edition of IRC 78.
The piling was carried out by Hydraulically operated drilling machine.
6mm thick M.S liner was provided to the piles from the bottom of pile cap up to rock level with
anticorrosive treatment.
Special cement such as Sulphate Resisting Cement was used in pile foundation.Dimension of any
element of piers is not less than 300mm.
Where Concrete was used for substructure minimum M40 and above was used and all concrete was
supplied by R.M.C plant.
Anticorrosive treatment to M.S liners to the piles and protective paints to pile cap and substructure was
provided.
Super structure
 The project of Sky Walk consists of :
a)Structural Steel work for Walkway:
Super structures is of Structural Steel truss and pre-cast slab panel as deck slab covering with floor of
16 mm thick, of pigmented mastic and , Walkway project consists of a covering structure of 16 mm
thick. Multi wall polycarbonate Sheet with aluminum tabular sections1.0 meter overhang beyond with
eaves gutter, flashings, lapping etc, which acts as a roof. It has an elegant look with the best aesthetics.
Clear Walkway width is of 5000 mm with Handrails of 1.0 meter. High splash guard with ACP in
outside of truss.
b) Staircase
Staircase made of MS with RCC slab for entry & exit at 3 locations for the walk way structures There
are 2 no of entry and exit at Western Express Highway and one near Bandra-Kurla complex. The clear
Width inside starecase is 5000mm.The Floor level starts from the grade and ends point matches with
skywalk floor. There are 15 steps between the landings. . The risers is about 140 mm. the Trends is 300
mm. the waist slab is about 150 mm with 40 mm cover.

Vertical Clearance details:

At all obligatory spans across road crossings: 6.5 m.
At all obligatory spans across road & railway crossings : 8.40m
Within Walkway : 4.00m
Parapet wall are provide for Walkway

The minimum thickness of Deck slab is around 150 mm. The design of superstructure was carried out
based on longitudinal and transverse analysis.
Design Load:
The structure was designed for load coming from the launching components etc, beam and winch
system, etc. Impact of such loads was considered 10% of total load. Full wind force at right angles to the
superstructure and wind force acting in traffic direction were taken in to account.
In absence of actual field data the properties of back fill, the Dry density of soil was taken 1.8 T/ccm.
The saturated density at 2.0 T/ccm. ¢= 30o , δ=20 o and C=0
For design of structure to account for temperature the following formula was used dL = alpha x L x t,
where the value of t was 40o ±20 for extreme atmospheric exposure condition. Alpha is the co efficient
of expansion or contraction and L is the length of the member and dL is the expansion or contraction due
to a variation of temperature in appropriate units. The superstructure was also designed for effects of
distribution across the deck depth as per IRC: 6-2000. For calculation of thermal forces effect of ‘E’
value of concrete should be taken as 50% of the instantaneous value so as to account for effects of creep
on thermal strains.

Design of Super structure

Superstructure Design is based on longitudinal and Transverse analysis. The structures are designed for the
load coming from the launching components etc beam and winch system etc Impact of such loads shall be
considered not less than 10% of total load.
Wind Forces was considered in the following ways:
1) Full wind force at right angles to the superstructure.
2) 65% of wind force as calculated in 1 above ie acting perpendicular to the superstructure and
35% acting in traffic direction.
Deck slab thickness is 150mm.
Various utility services such as water supply, sewerage, electric cables, street light cabled , traffic signal
cables , gas pipes, petroleum pipes , telephone lines etc running parallel to the road or across the road were
properly shifted or adjusted as required where Concrete was used for superstructure minimum M40 and
above was used and all concrete was supplied by R.M.C plant. For skywalk superstructure mainly structural
steel were used. Structural steel construction has been designed as per IRC:18-2000 and Guide
specifications for design and construction of Structural steel construction. The structural components were
checked for stresses during handling and erection.
Structural steel of M.S pipe , rolled beams, channels, angles etc of TATA steel were used. Gusset plates, end
plates, stiffeners, bolts and nuts , fillets etc are all of structural steel. Structural steel members of truss are
mostly welded. Epoxy coating has been applied on the interfaces of both the steel work.
Bearings below Superstructure
a) POT- PTFE Bearing from MORTH approved manufacturers in cast steel has been positioned.
b) The bearings provided are easily accessible for inspection.
c) Scope for lifting the superstructure for future replacement of bearings are provided for in the
design of bearing.
d) The contact surface of superstructure shall project beyond the edge of the bearing plate by a
minimum distance of 100 mm at any location.
Expansion Joints
a) Only strip seal/ modular strip joints are permitted , conformation to modified interim
specifications for expansion joints are allowed.
b) The expansion joints are generally spaced at not less than 100m except in case of unavoidable
circumstances.
c) Expansion joints conform to MORTH specifications and are procured from MORTH approved
manufacturers.
Water Spouts
Water spouts as per MOST Type design No. SD/ 303 are provided. Water Spout is of 150mm diameter G.I
and connected to runner pipe (HDPE type) of suitable diameter (minimum 150 mm) and taken down by
down take HDPE pipes of suitable diameter at approved locations.
Collection chamber are made in the ground and are connected to nearest storm water drain through 300 mm
diameter NP3 pipe.
Electrical Work
a) Junction boxes, pullout boxes, sleeves, base plate and anchor bolts for fixing electrical poles.
b) 110 mm diameter Double Wall Corrugated (DWC) pipe of PE with IS: 14930 part-II one in each
crash barrier for entire length of Elevated road interchange and up to nearest junction box.
Floor and Roof
Flooring of skywalk was done with Pigmented mastic. Mastic flooring was carried out with laying thickness
of 20 to 25 mm with waterproofing layer below. The Mastic was laid manually. The top layer ( 1 to 1.5mm)
of 6days old mastic is then removed with the help of polishing machine attached with rough stone.
Subsequently polishing is done with using various number of stones and final layer polishing is done with
wax to achieve smooth joint less finish. The effective thickness reduced due t polishing is about 5mm.
Due to granite stones of various colour appearances is very attractive and looks like mosaic tiles.
For roofing material PVC sheets were used which were fixed over the purlins.
Green colour roofing material gives a pleasant look and also keeps the skywalk cooler and comfortable for
the users. Economically also it is viable.
MAINTENANCE AND MONITORING OF SKYWALK

M/s Das Offshore Engg. Pvt. Ltd. was appointed as the Contractor for the total cost of Rs.13.63 Cr. The
construction for the project was initiated from 27th December, 2007. The construction has been completed
and the same was inaugurated on 24th June, 2008 under the hands of Chief minister, Shri Vilasrao
Deshmukh. The Construction of skywalk was completed in record breaking period of 6 months. The
Skywalk has now been opened for the use of Pedestrians and the procedure for Operations and
Maintenance of the Skywalk had been initiated by inviting tenders..
Revenue can be well generated by giving it for advertisement and if shopkeepers are allowed to do
business over the skywalk. The tax can be generated from the shopkeepers.
As per Cost Benefit Ratio of the project is considered, it is very high. The client(MMRDA) has recovered
all the amount spent on the project and plus they are enjoying the extra benefits in the terms of money,
goodwill and popularity.
M.M.R.D.A is waiting for all the skywalk to get complete, so that they can appoint a single Contractor for
operating and maintaining all the skywalk in and around Mumbai. The contract will include overall
maintenance, cleanliness and operation of lifts too. In addition, the MMRDA is also looking at shopping
arcades on the skywalks, more to rehabilitate persons affected by the projects.
It will not only rehabilitee the people but it will also help in generating the funds in the form of taxes.

Conclusion
Any project is conceptualized when there is a NEED. And we can very well understand that how Mumbai
Pedestrians’ dream has come true with the upcoming of Skywalk in the most crowded areas.
From all the above discussion it is well cleared that the skywalk project fulfills all the needs.
As per Cost Benefit Ratio of the project is considered, it is very high. The client(MMRDA) will easily
recover all the amount spent on the project and plus they are enjoying the extra benefits in the terms of
money, goodwill and popularity.
Revenue can be well generated by giving it for advertisement and if shopkeepers are allowed to do business
over the skywalk. The tax can be generated from the shopkeepers. And moreover, pedestrians will be
automatically attracted to use the skywalk without making any compulsion.
In Pune, there are many subways for crossing the roads, but people are reluctant to use that due to poor
maintenance and poor ventilation.
But as M.M.R.D.A has given the maintenance to the Advertising contractor , so the maintenance problem
automatically vanishes.
And as skywalk is free to atmosphere i.e open air , people will love to use that. Further, if people can do
shopping while walking , people will be automatically tend to use skywalk.
Who will not like to walk freely , safely without any hassle of traffic in open air !!!
So , after seeing the success story of Mumbai Skywalk it is the turn of Pune skywalk and I am sure the day is
not far away.

References:
1. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Homepage,
<http://www.mmrda.org/>
2. Tender Document, M.M.R.D.A
3. Contract Document, M.M.R.D.A
4. National Highways Authority of India, Homepage, <http://www.nhai.org/>
5. Project Report File, M.M.R.D.A
6. Finance Document for Bandra Skywalk project, M.M.R.D.A
7. Technical Scope For Bandra Skywalk project, M.M.R.D.A
8. Proposal document for Bandra Skywalk project, M.M.R.D.A
9. An article, “Skywalk in and around Mumbai ” ,M.M.R.D.A publication
10. National Highways Authority of India, Homepage,<http://www.nhai.org / NHDP> (feb
2009)

Proposed Skywalk (Bandra

– East)

Bandra East-the Arial View

ERECTION OF TRUSS
Welding of Members of Truss during Night Hours

A truss Showing Different Members

Bandra Skywalk Outside View