CHENNAI (Metro Rail News): Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is working on an ambitious Phase II project, aiming to build a network of 116.1 kilometres, the first of its kind in India. This extensive project includes three corridors and a total of 119 Metro Stations.
The three corridors are as follows:
Corridor-3: Madhavaram to Siruseri-SIPCOT, covering a distance of 45.8 kilometres.
Corridor-4: Light House to Poonamalee Bypass, spanning 26.1 kilometres.
Corridor-5: Madhavaram to Sholinganallur, with a length of 47 kilometres.
Currently, CMRL is constructing the underground metro rail project corridor 4, which connects Light House Station at Marina Beach to Kodambakkam Flyover. The underground section is divided into two packages, UG-01 and UG-02, each comprising 4 km of twin tunnels. To complete approximately 16 kilometres of tunnelling for both Upline and Downline tunnels, CMRL plans to use four Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) manufactured by the renowned German company M/s Herrenknecht, assembled at Herrenknecht India Pvt. Ltd (HAI) in Chennai. These TBMs will be operated by M/s ITD Cementation India Limited, the contractor for CMRL.
The successful Factory Acceptance Test of the 4th and final Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the corridor, which is the 2nd TBM for UG-02 package, took place at the HK factory in Thiruvallur District, Ponneri Thaluk, Alinjivakkam village, Chennai, in the presence of R. Ranganathan, General Manager (Construction) CMRL, and various officials from General Consultants, M/s AEON Consortium.
The Tunnel Boring Machine, known as S1075B, has a bore diameter of 6.670 meters and is 110 meters long Earth Pressure Balance Machine. It weighs approximately 700 metric tons. The machine will be dismantled into parts, packed, and transported to its destination at Panagal Park Station, T Nagar. The construction of the TBM launching Shaft at Panagal Park Station is currently in progress and is likely to be completed for lowering and assembly of the TBM by October 2023.
The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will tunnel at a maximum depth of 26 meters below the ground, starting from Boat Club, Nandanam, Panagal Park, Kodambakkam, and finally reaching the retrieval shaft after Kodambakkam Flyover in September 2024.
