But for Vilayati Ram Mittal, completing the Goregaon flyover a staggering 6.5 months or 198 days ahead of schedule has earned him nearly a crore of rupees, at Rs 50,000 for each day saved.

``One of the reasons we bid low for the flyover was because of the bonus clause,'' said the pleased-as-punch flyover contractor Mittal, hours before the bridge was thrown open to the public by Union Environment Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday evening.

Work on the flyover began in April 13 last year and finished on February 28 this year after a frenetic construction over exactly 153 days. If there's been any delay, it's only the wait of a little over a month for an appointment from the union minister for the formal inauguration.

The eighth flyover from the state government's 55 bridge and flyover scheme, the Rs 7.5 crore Aarey-Goregaon flyover spans550 metres. Since it's a one-way flyover, it's used by traffic flowing into the city from Dahisar.

Mittal has now set his sights on completing the flyover at Borivli 125 days ahead of schedule. He stands to earn Rs 50,000 a day for this project too, and is to be paid the bonus for both flyovers when they are completed.

The massive time savings have been possible due to the use of modern machinery, Mittal said. The hydraulic rotary piling rigs that Mittal used on the flyover sinks in a one-metre deep pile into the earth within an hour. It would take 10 days to sink in a pile using the earlier technique.

Other novel methods include the use of pre-stressed concrete girders and ready-mix concrete in keeping with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation's (MSRDC) dictum of minimum on-site work.

``If I used the old methods on the bridge, it would take a minimum of two years to complete this flyover,'' Mittal added. His company imported machinery worth Rs seven crore to be used to cut costs on bothflyovers.

Mittal was awarded the flyover contract in April last year but work started only four months later.