Metro rail stretch between Washermanpet and Egmore delayed due to complex soil structure
Posted on: 15/May/2016 3:17:39 PM
Complex soil structure has been holding back the completion of the 300 metre stretch between Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Chennai Central Railway Station. The tunnel boring machines can barely dig 2.5 to 3 metres a day along the stretch. This is slowing down the work on the entire line between Washermanpet and Egmore metro stations.
Say officials, This (is) the only section where engineers are forced to work slowly with their machines, which are otherwise capable of boring long stretches in a day. We have dug as much as 54 metre at one go.
This tunnel, between Washermanpet and Egmore stations, is underground for about 25 metres. The line covers a stretch of about 4445 metres. The line is part of the 23.1 km corridor that connects Washermanpet with Chennai Airport. The corridor will be underground for 14.3 kms and have 11 stations.
A senior metro rail official said, Tunnelling work in the 300-metre stretch got underway in October 2015. The stretch has slowed down their tunnelling work, as it has a mixed strata with rock in the bottom and loose soil on top, a combination they have not seen during excavation for tunnelling in other parts of the city. While the type of tunnel boring machines used for metro rail construction differs with the type of soil, a mixed strata required special intervention. Too much pressure on the soil will affect the roads and buildings, if their foundation is weak. We have no choice but to work slowly and carefully. We still have about eight percent of work to complete there.
