The Hancock Bridge was a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

located between the Suburban railway stations of

Sandhurst Road Sandhurst Road (station code: SNRD) is a railway station serving Dongri area of South Mumbai, India, on the Central and Harbour Lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It is the third stop from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. Named after ...

and

Byculla Byculla (ISO: Bhāykhaḷā; pronunciation: ʱaːjkʰəɭaː is an area of South Mumbai. Location Byculla is neighboured by Nagpada and Mumbai Central and Mahalaxmi on the west; Agripada, Jacob Circle on the north-west: Chinchpokli to the nor ...

. The bridge was initially built in 1879 and then underwent reconstruction in 1923 before it was demolished in January 2016 for another reconstruction.

History

Hancock Bridge was first built in 1879 during the

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

era. It was named after Colonel H. F. Hancock, who served as member and President of the then Bombay Municipal Corporation (presently the

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC; IAST: ), also known as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), is the governing civic body of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra. It is India's richest municipal corporation. The BMC ...

) during that period. The bridge was then rebuilt in 1923. After demolition in 2016, Hancock Bridge will again be rebuilt by the MCGM while preserving some of its old structures.

Demolition

The demolition plan had been on papers since 2014 as the bridge had become weak and thus limited traffic was permitted. Demolition was also planned in order to facilitate the conversion of the railway electrification along the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban railway from 1,500-volt DC to 25,000-volt AC which requires a minimum distance of between the roof of the train and the base of a bridge. The

(MCGM) and Central Railway at the same time stated their intentions to preserve old structures and thus the demolition and reconstruction was being planned accordingly. In 2014, it was confirmed that MCGM would pay for the demolition and reconstruction. Demolition of the Hancock Bridge began in November 2015 and the bridge has been closed for pedestrian traffic since then.

References

{{Reflist Rail transport in Mumbai Bridges completed in 1879 Bridges in Maharashtra Former bridges in India Railway bridges in India Former railway bridges in India