In a measure to reduce weight on the old road over bridges (ROBs) passing above rail lines, the railways has begun shifting the overhead equipment (OHE) cables. In the process, Central Railway has shifted the OHE from Carnac Bunder, Byculla and the rest will follow soon. The OHE cables power the trains. Teams from the railways, IIT Bombay and BMC inspected the old ROBs where the OHEs are attached to a portion of the steel bridges. This has added to the dead load and made them vulnerable. Senior railway officials said that the cables are hung from the bottom of the ROB where it is attached to the cantilever portion above which footpaths exist. "We are creating an extra arm on which the cables are being attached. This will shift the load directly on to the main girder," said a railway official. On August 2, DNA reported about it in the story 'Railway officials losing sleep over OHE cables'. The OHE cables and the paraphernalia weigh at least 500 kg. In case the cables snap then it would put more weight on the bridge below on which they are hanging. The bridges like the ones at Currey Road, Chinchpokli and Byculla on CR and Mahalaxmi, Lower Parel, Elphinstone Road on WR are vulnerable as they were built during the British era. "We have identified 14 locations. The load of OHE is not significant but still we want to remove its load from these 14 locations on old bridges," said Sunil Udasi, Chief PRO, Central Railway. At the time of power upgrade from 1500 to 25000 volt, many of these OHE cables were further embedded into the ROB. Since the Andheri bridge collapse, the team of experts is inspecting all 445 bridges and a detailed report would be submitted by October. There are 29 ROBs on WR and 87 ROBs on CR. OTHER MEASURES While Delisle bridge in Lower Parel has been shut for motorists, on several ROBs including Andheri, Ghatkopar and Mahim-Bandra, footpaths have been removed

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