India, May 15 -- As a state-of-the-art, cable-stayed bridge rises in the atmospheric heart of Dadar, the past is conceding ground to the future and worlds are colliding in curious ways. This is the remarkable story of the century-old Tilak Bridge, a war-horse built by the colonial British over the railway tracks in Mumbai.

A crucial east-west connector whose importance will increase manifold once the Elphinstone Bridge shuts for reconstruction, Tilak Bridge is an icon of this city.

Declared dilapidated during a structural audit in 2019, the bridge was added to the list of old rail-over-bridges (ROBs) built by the British to be reconstructed. But with another important east-west connector, Delisle Bridge under construction then, work on ...