First flyover-cum-metro viaduct structure of network being built: DMRC

The project near Soorghat in northeast Delhi is being executed in association with the city Public Works Department (PWD), they said.

This will be the first-ever integrated "flyover-cum-metro viaduct structure" in the history of the mass rapid transit system, where the flyover and metro viaduct will run parallel to each other, the Delhi Metro said.

This PWD flyover and vehicle underpass are part of a proposed elevated road along the Yamuna River, parallel to the Ring Road between the Wazirabad Flyover (Signature Bridge) and Ring Road near DND (Delhi Noida Delhi) Flyway, the DMRC said in a statement.

"In this first-of-its-kind engineering marvel, integrated portals will be erected on which a road flyover as well as a metro viaduct will be placed. While on one side of the portal, the metro viaduct will be placed, a PWD flyover used for vehicular movement will be constructed on the other side," it said.

On these portals, the road flyover and the metro viaduct will rest and run parallel to each other for a length of nearly 450 m. A total of 21 portals with an average width of 26 m and height of 10 m, will be erected. In addition, a vehicle underpass shall also be constructed below these portals, which will cater for movement of vehicles coming from Outer Ring Road, the DMRC said.

This structure is coming up on the Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor at the upcoming Soorghat metro station, being built as part of Phase-IV. This 12.098 km-long corridor will comprise eight stations, and will be completely elevated. This extension of the Pink Line will complete the ring of the Majlis Park–Shiv Vihar corridor, and will be the first-ever ring corridor in the country with a length of about 70 km, officials said.

While the width of the metro viaduct will be 10.5 m, the road flyover moving adjacent and parallel to it will be a three-lane road of approximately 10 m width. This proposed PWD flyover shall run adjacent to the existing flyover, which is currently operational from Wazirabad to ISBT near Soorghat, the statement said.

The Delhi Metro will construct the portals and the metro viaduct over it, and the PWD will erect the superstructure for the flyover on the already constructed portals in future. In addition, the underpass will be constructed by the DMRC for traffic movement from Outer Ring Road towards Signature bridge. This underpass shall merge with the road on the other side of Najafgarh Drain, it added.

The work, mandated to be conducted by the DMRC, is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. However, given the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the completion targets may be reviewed in the future, the DMRC said.

As part of Phase-IV work, the DMRC is already building two integrated double-decker flyovers on which a metro viaduct and a road flyover will be placed one over the other.

However, this Pink Line stretch is unique since the proposed flyover and the metro viaduct will be parallel to each other, officials said.