Metro work to go underground in April

Metro work to go underground in April


Express News Service
First Published : 26 Dec 2008 03:52:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 26 Dec 2008 10:18:29 AM IST

BANGALORE: Metro’s underground work will begin in April 2009 and will be completed in 36 months, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) Managing Director N Sivasailam said at a seminar on tunneling for Bangalore Metro organised by BMRCL Global Academy of Technology on Wednesday.

Two underground stations will be constructed in Majestic and one each will be constructed in City Railway Station, Chickpet, City Market, Central College, Vidhana Soudha and Cricket Stadium.

Of the total 8.8 km underground construction, 4.9 km will be in the east-west corridor and 3.9 will be in the north-south corridor.

Traffic diversion

Traffic in front of the Vidhana Soudha will be diverted within Vidhana Soudha and High Court premises during construction work, Sivasailam said.

There are 450 wells on the tunnel route of which many are non-functional. Seventy seven wells will be plugged during construction.

Tenders to be invited

“Although rock tunnelling has already been done in India, the sub-surface engineering is more challenging in the case of Bangalore Metro,” Sivasailam said.

Tenders for construction would be invited from February 15 and would be finalised by April 15.

Muddu Shekar, Professor at Indian Institute of Science, said underground station and tunnelling work for Namma Metro would not considerably affect the water table in the city.

A cut-and-close method will be adopted by the BMRCL to drill and excavate earth at a depth of 30 metres.

More than 650 labourers will have to be hired from Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand for tunnelling-work, Sivasailam said.