Chennai Metro completes first tunnel
Chennai- The Chennai metro rail project has completed its first tunnel (1.3 km) between two stations- Washermenpet and Mannadi.
The tunneling work between this stretch was initiated on October 1, 2012 and got completed in five and a half months.
As per the plan initiated by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), the phase I of Chennai metro rail project includes two corridors. The first starts from Washermanpet and ends at the Chennai International Airport covering a distance of 23.1 km with 11 underground and six elevated stations.
The second corridor starts from Chennai Central Railway Station and ends at St.Thomas Mount covering a distance of 22 kms with nine underground and eight elevated stations.
Recently, tunneling work in Mannadi resulted in cracks in two buildings and surrounding areas on Prakasam Salai and Meera Labbai Street. The incident occurred when the work was carried out some 60 metres away from the Metro Rail’s proposed Mannadi station.
The tunnel between Washermenpet and Mannadi stretch runs under 750 buildings and does not lie under main road. Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) worked at an average speed of 12m per day. So far, 958 rings have been fixed along the stretch. These rings will act as roof and walls on which metro tracks and other facilities would be laid and installed respectively.
According to a metro official, a parallel tunnel along the same stretch is underway and has reached 205 m. Tunneling works under Poonamallee High Road is in progress while it is yet to be initiated from Saidapet to Teynampet under Anna Salai soon.
At the Central-Thirumangalam underground stretch of the Central-Koyambedu-St Thomas Mount corridor, two parallel tunnels (360 m and 368 m) have been bored from Nehru Park to Egmore. The construction work started in July 2012.
Tunneling work from May Day Park to DMS on Anna Salai has reached 102 m. A parallel tunnel will also be constructed on this stretch.
The speed of tunneling varies from one location to another. After the completion of viaducts, tracks are being laid on the elevated stretch between Koyembedu and St Thomas Mount.
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