KOLKATA (Metro Rail news): The longest girder for the Joka-Majerhat part of the Joka-Esplanade Metro corridor was installed on Sunday night, with the 24-hour closure of the Majerhat bridge accelerating the opening of the Majerhat Metro station to this September, according to officials.
Majerhat Bridge was closed by Kolkata Police’s traffic department on Saturday night for a full day. On Sunday at 11:45 p.m., the composite girder launch along the Metro alignment at the bridge’s approach on the Burdwan Road crossing was finished. It spans 50 metres above D H Road.
According to a railroads official, a deadline of October 2023 was set for Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, which is building the 14-kilometre Joka-Esplanade corridor, to add 2 kilometres from Taratala to Majerhat. “The viaduct must be continuous to Remount Road to extend 2 km beyond Taratala.
Therefore, a buffer will be built here so that Majerhat serves as the line’s terminus rather than Taratala. Only three short spans remain to be built after the 50m girder-launching on Sunday for the viaduct to reach Remount Road.
The officer further added, “Building such a massive span above the busy D H Road was laborious. Before Kolkata Police approved the shutdown of the Majerhat bridge, several utilities had to be removed.
The task was finished by RVNL engineers well before midnight using two road-mounted cranes, one weighing 250 tonnes and the other 150 tonnes, along with a third 300-tonne crane parked nearby. On Saturday night, 16- and 12-wheel trailers carrying the assembled girders were brought to the location.
A representative said, “We have moved the 2 km Majerhat extension target to September 2023.”
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