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Chennai Metro Rail re-distancing cuts cost by 30 per cent
Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has cut down its cost by up to 30 per cent by reducing the length of its underground stations through resource optimisation, which includes shifting some utilities from underground to street level and using space effective machinery.
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Chennai
Facilities like tunnel ventilation system and electrical rooms have been moved from underground to street level and equipment of smaller size have been used in the underground stations being constructed now, Arvind Kumar Rai, chief general manager, underground section, CMRL, said, after overseeing “wall breakthrough” at Korukkupet, which marks the completion of a 1.8km long tunnelling from Washermanpet to Korukkupet stations.
The cost has come down by 25-30% after reducing the station length from 230 metres to 180 metres using resource optimisation, Rai claimed, adding that the passenger area remains unaffected.
“We have not touched the passenger area, which is long enough to accommodate a six-car metro train. Though we only run four-car metro trains, the passenger area of underground stations has been designed to accommodate six-car trains and passengers to that capacity in future,” Rai said.
Notably, CMRL officials claimed that enforcement of GST, which created some confusion among bidders owing to uncertainty of quoting the tax slab in their bid, has not affected their balance sheets. Some raw material prices have come down and some have gone up. Overall, GST has not affected metro work a great deal, the CGM explained.
Washermanpet-Korukkupet Metro tunnel completed ahead of time
Sunday would go down as a remarkable day in CMRL history when it had finished works ahead of deadline.
Tunnelling on the 1.8 km long Washermanpet-Korukkupet section was originally slated to be completed in February 2018.
However, CMRL has completed the drive between the two stations five months ahead of schedule, said CMRL managers who normally miss deadlines.
TBMs (tunnel boring machines) progressed at an average speed of 11 metres per day on Washermanpet Korukkupet stretch, which is the highest in Chennai metro rail history. CMRL engineers attributed the brisk pace of work progress to the terrain, which was mostly clay, unlike sections like DMS – Saidapet which was a mixture of soil and hard rocky terrain that took more time. However, there is a catch. With easy terrain comes greater risk of soil settlement, which would disturb buildings over ground.
Herrenknecht TBM that dug the terrain from Washermanpet – Korukkupet had to cross railway tracks at washermanpet with active rail traffic and also had tunnel under 480 buildings and 310 wells, including 10 open wells. “It was a challenging task.
Most of the buildings were old, but intensive instrumentation and monitoring was undertaken to maintain structural integrity of existing buildings,” Arvind Kumar Rai, Chief General Manager, underground section, CMRL explained.
CMRL UPDATE
- The remaining 465 metres of Washermanpet – Korukkupet stretch will be complete in a month.
- Tunnels were dug at an average depth of 1215 metres.
- The 1.8km stretch has three stations. Washermanpet, Thiyagaraja College and Korukkupet. 30 per cent of the works have been completed.
- From Korukkupet, the remaining section till Wimco Nagar will be elevated.
- Entire Washermanpet – Wimco Nagar section (estimated Rs 3,770 crore) will be completed by mid-2019. The late chief Minister J Jayalalithaa flagged off the work during her tenure CMRL officials claim that Nehru Park – Central segment will be commissioned by end of December 2017. Saidapet – DMS will be ready for inspection in a month.
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