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    Jindal Stainless joins hands with BCL to develop foot-over-bridges

    Synopsis

    It comes at a time when Railways has decided on a massive modernization to replace aging infrastructure. It followed the collapse of the FoB at the northern end of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus earlier this year.

    foot-over-bridgeAgencies
    Some 1,100 FOB projects have been sanctioned by the government, with nearly 300 in the pipeline
    KOLKATA: Jindal Stainless has joined hands with state owned Braithwaite & Co Limited (BCL), a company under Ministry of Railways, to develop stainless steel foot-over-bridges (FOBs), road-over-bridges (ROBs) etc. It comes at a time when Railways has decided on a massive modernization to replace aging infrastructure.

    It followed the collapse of the FoB at the northern end of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus earlier in March this year, that took six lives and injured over 35 commuters and highlighted the glaring need for upgrading time-worn railway infrastructure across the country.

    Some 1,100 FOB projects have been sanctioned by the government, with nearly 300 in the pipeline. As per industry data, around 1,35,000 rail bridges exist in India, of which more than 25% are over 100 years old and need immediate replacement. Infrastructure in coastal areas and places like Mumbai and Kolkata are particularly vulnerable. Some 17,000 ROBs need strengthening or replacement while the number is around 50,000 for FOBs.

    The first such stainless steel foot-over-bridge is coming at Bhayandar station in Mumbai next year. Though more than 1,000 bridges are rehabilitated every year, there is a huge backlog in re-building these bridges. With this tie up, JSL and BCL are eyeing to bridge the gap in replacement projects.

    As part of the tie-up, JSL will be supplying nearly 80% of the required stainless steel to BCL for developing FOBs on railway platforms, ROBs on municipal roads, smart city skywalks, road bridges and rail bridges. The steel grades and design pertaining to railway applications need approvals from Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) and Railway Board. The Ratan Jindal company already has a 60% share in railway coaches and a 70% share of steel used in railway wagons.

    “With JSL’s stainless steel grades and BCL’s expertise in fabrication, we hope to be able to develop a sustainable railway infrastructure together,” Vijay Sharma, director, JSL said. BCL which has in the past built the iconic Howrah Bridge and Vidyasagar Setu in Kolkata, the Yamuna bridge in Delhi and Ganga Bridge in Patna.

    Commenting on the development, Braithwaite chairman Yatish Kumar said: “We look forward to a long-term association backed by specialized quality products and technical support from JSL.”

    “The initial cost of setting up a stainless steel structure in place of a mild steel one is estimated to be 20-25% higher. However, it is more safe has a lower lifecycle cost, is corrosion resistant and maintenance free with 3-4 times higher longevity,” JSL’s Sharma said. On an average, a bridge with a 70 m span requires some 200 tonne of stainless steel to be built with the cost estimated at anywhere between Rs 12-15 crore.



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