India’s Metro Rail construction is all set make history after Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the remaining routes of Nagpur Metro Phase- 1 on Sunday.
Metro routes from Kasturchand Park to Automotive Square (Line-1) and Jhansi Rani Square to Prajapati Nagar (Line-2) will be dedicated to the nation.
A major attraction will be the opening of four-level trans- portation corridor formed out of a 18.9 M wide steel girder launched across live railway tracks at a height of 28 M from ground level.
Such unique multi-level transportation network will be seen for the first time in the country. An existing vehicular and pedestrian underpass forms the bottom level. Forming the second level, there are railway tracks on top of it.
The National Highway and the Metro Line will form the third and fourth levels respectively. This will be part of Asia’s longest double-decker viaduct span- ning 5.3 km.
Afcons had erected this 80 M double-decker steel span, weighing 1,650 MT, in a record time of two months. The steel superstructure was placed over Gaddigodam railway bridge,
where more than 150 trains and over one lakh vehicles passed the construction site every day. Launching of a gigan- tic 18.9 M wide girder is prob- ably a first in Indian Railways.
Dr Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director, Maha Metro, recalled the tense moments during the construction stage as the proj- ect was quite enormous and full of challenges. It’s now a momentous moment for Nagpurians that Phase-I of Nagpur Metro is now being opened fully on Sunday onwards. The four-layered transport system is something unique and quite an engi- neering feat, he added.
“The double-decker Open Web Girder (OWG) created with
1,650 MT structural steel with 8,000 structural elements, was placed over the busy Gaddigodam Railway Crossing last winter. All the activities were done in extremely tight railway block hours, given how busy this route is. The span stands at a height of 28 M above ground. Such a critical and complex task has never been attempted before in India,” said Arun Kumar, Project Manager, Afcons.
Apart from the 80 M steel span, two adjacent composite girders with RCC deck slab, eachof25Mspan,hadtobe completed. During the preparatory stage, the team manoeuvred the project’s tech- nical complexity amidst space constraints at site, severe win-
ter, unseasonal rains, the pan- demic as well as a tight dead- line.
“We really had to dig deep into our reserves. All forces col- laborated to make this once- in-a-lifetime challenge a suc- cess. Apart from our colleagues at site and Head Office, we also enlisted expert support from our Chenab Railway Bridge Project to critically review our preparedness. Manpower and machines were mobilised at an unprecedented pace,” remi- nisced Amarsinh Raut, Project Controller.
Four 250-500 T cranes, one super lift arrangement, 22 torque wrench machines were deployed, and special lowering arrangements were made for the entire operation.
