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Delhi Metro begins first tunneling drive of Phase 4 on Vikaspuri-Krishna Park Extn line
Anushka Khare
Posted on: 2021-01-23 18:49:00
Viewer: 2,822
Comments: 0
Country: India
City: New Delhi
Belgrade, Serbia (Urban Transport News): A major milestone in Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 work was achieved on 21st January 2021 as the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) of this phase started its drive to bore a 1.4-kilometre long tunnel from Vikaspuri to Krishna Park Extension on the Janakpuri West – R K Ashram Marg corridor in the presence of DMRC’s Managing Director, Dr. Mangu Singh and other senior officials.
Two parallel circular tunnels for up and down movement will be constructed on this stretch which is a part of the 2.2-kilometre-long underground section from Janakpuri West to Keshopur. The lowering and assembling process of this giant 73-metre long machine was started in October last year.
The tunnelling has started from the Vikaspuri area in continuation of the Magenta line tunnel that has been already constructed for the presently operational Botanical Garden – Janakpuri West corridor.
The tunnel will be constructed approximately at a depth of 14 to 16 metres by the team of HCC-VCCL JV. About 2,040 concrete rings will be installed in these tunnels. Each tunnel will have an inner diameter of 5.8 metres. The entire tunnelling work on this stretch is expected to be completed in about 12 month’s time. The alignment of the tunnel runs along the Outer ring road and below the multi-storied built-up structures.
The tunnel will be built up with proven technology of EPBM (Earth pressure balancing method) with the concrete lining made up of precast tunnel rings. The tunnel rings are being cast at the fully mechanized casting yard setup at Mundka. These concrete segments are cured with steam curing system to achieve early strength. This TBM will be able to carry out tunnelling up to 10 metres per day.
All necessary safety precautions are being taken while constructing the tunnel below the built-up structures by monitoring the ground movements with highly sensitive instruments fixed on the nearby structures. After completion of tunnelling, this machine will be taken out from the retrieval shaft being built with Krishna Park Extension underground station.
As part of the Phase-4 project work approved so far, about 27 kilometres of underground lines will be constructed. The Janakpuri West – RK Ashram Marg corridor will have underground sections of 7.74 kilometres in total.
A TBM is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross-section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can be designed to bore through anything from hard rock to sand. TBMs have revolutionised the way tunnelling work is done all over the world as now tunnels can be bored without disturbing the buildings and other structures on the surface.
TBMs are especially useful for underground tunnelling work in congested urban areas. DMRC has been using TBMs for its tunnelling work since Phase 1. In Phase 3, when about 50 kilometres of underground sections were built, about 30 TBMs were pressed into service in the national capital.
For more details, please explore the "Delhi Metro" page of Urban Transport News.
Anushka Khare
Anushka Khare is a Post Graduate in Journalism from Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal (MP). She covers stories and updates from India.
