Over 50% of metro tunnel boring work completed by July-end
Chennai: Racing against time to meet the October deadline it had to set to launch the commercial run of the elevated metro rail network from Koyambedu to Alandur, CMRL (Chennai metro rail limited) is wasting no time in the underground sector either. Well over 50% of the tunneling works had been completed even as early as July end. As on July 31, nearly 20 of the total 36.3km long tunneling works were completed. Incidentally, CMRL achieved a breakthrough at Thirumangalam station a couple of days ago when the tunneling boring machine from Anna Nagar completed the 555m long tube at Thirumangalam. The same TBM would tunnel towards the Thirumangalam ramp.
Four of the 14 units, the 1,040meter May Day Park-Central Metro section, 898 meter Pachaiyappa’s-Kilpauk section and the two 948m long sections on Nehru Park -Egmore section have achieved 100 percent.TBM’s 1 and 2 on Shenoy Nagar-Thirumangalam section, which was among the first of a few underground sections to be started by CMRL, has achieved 2,530 and 2,374 meters of the total 2,797meters on both tubes respectively.
Tunnels aside, the muck and slush commuters see overground on the arterial Anna Salai are not true indicators of the work happening beneath. It might not be an overstatement to say that civil works of most of the underground stations are progressing on a war footing, claimed a senior CMRL official explaining that the works were split and apportioned to contractors in such a way they would not clash and hence the brisk progress of works underground.
Fifty-four percent was the length achieved till July 31 and the quantum of tunneling work completed should have inched close to 60% now, the CMRL officer remarked, describing it as an achievement of sorts given that the deadline set for the underground network was only the end of 2015. At any given time, over a dozen tunnel boring machines imported from China and Russia roar beneath Anna Salai and EVR Periyar Salai besides a few interior roads in Anna Nagar and surroundings.
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