The Package-I of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link's (MTHL) first Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) span of length 119 m and weight 1,331 metric tonnes (mt) was launched on 14 January. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the nodal agency of the bridge construction project, has shared the details of the developments in the project work. The Package-I of the bridge construction project was awarded to Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and IHI Infrastructure Systems (L&T-IHI) consortium. The bridge construction project involves the construction of the 10.38 km long bridge across the Mumbai Bay and Sewri Interchange at Mumbai Side. According to the sources, the OSD is a Steel Deck Superstructure, which helps carry vehicular load efficiently among three planes. It enhances the load-carrying capacity of the bridge, compared to Concrete Superstructure. The OSD's are less in self-weight compared to concrete or composite girders and have a longer span of 180 m. It might be an ideal solution, considering the conditions of the MTHL and longer Pier-Pier distances. It is more cost-effective as compared to Cable Stay or Suspension Bridges. For transporting heavy OSD sections, a barge was specially designed. Earlier, the Package-2 of the first OSD was launched, paving the way for 31 OSD spans to be built under the project. The MTHL bridge of 22 km long, and the six-lane bridge was about 16.5 km long over the sea, about 5.5 km viaduct on either side of the land has interchanges at Sewri in Central Mumbai, Shivaji Nagar at Mumbai Bay and National Highway 4B at Chirle in Navi Mumbai. The bridge will be well-equipped with an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and other amenities. The travel time from South Mumbai to Navi Mumbai will reduce to 25 minutes from the current travel time of 120 minutes. The expected cost of the project is Rs 17,843 crore. About 80% of piers and 65% of the total project are completed. The infrastructure project is expected to finish by 2023. Image Source Also read: Mumbai Trans-Harbor Link: First Orthotropic Steel Deck launched Also read: Sewri-Nhava Sheva trans-harbour enters complex construction phase