The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation adopted a unique method of construction by utilizing steel girders instead of the conventional concrete ones. According to DMRC, for the construction of concrete girders, the establishment of a casting yard would have been required and for such a small stretch, it would not have been feasible to set up a casting yard within a short span of time. Therefore, the installation of steel girders was done on this stretch. In total, 40 steel girders have been placed on ten spans for the section that is 290 metre long. DMRC said these steel girders were fabricated and brought from a workshop at Ambala in the state of Haryana. Not only this saved time but also there wasn’t any need to develop a separate casting yard for the concrete casting of the girders.
According to DMRC, these girders’ length varies from 16 metres to 38 metres. The viaduct height stands at around 8 metres to 9.5 metres. Also, a curved span of 200 metres radius is a part of this stretch. Earlier, for Chhattarpur Metro station’s construction, a similar method of using steel structures was adopted by DMRC because the construction of that metro station was also delayed due to land acquisition issues.
The work on these steel girders’ installation as well as deck slab casting was completed in the month of April just before the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. This achievement was significant because, on this stretch, the civil construction was started in early 2020 and was repeatedly hampered by COVID-19 induced lockdowns and issues like the non-availability of workers. Following the completion of civil work, track laying, as well as other ancillary works, have commenced on this Delhi Metro stretch between Mayur Vihar Pocket – 1 and Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake. Besides, work of Overhead Electrification is also currently under progress. The work of track laying is likely to be completed by June end. Thereafter, preliminary trials are expected to start.
Once work on this section is over, it will link the two ends of Pink Line as well as will provide seamless connectivity to a long range of localities in NCR. Through this corridor, major transport hubs like Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, Nizamuddin Railway Station, Delhi Cantt. Railway Station, Anand Vihar Railway Station, Anand Vihar ISBT, and prominent markets such as Dilli Haat – INA, Lajpat Nagar and Sarojini Nagar will get direct connectivity.
According to Delhi Metro, this corridor will be extended further from Majlis Park to Maujpur under the Phase-4 project, making it the country’s longest single metro corridor at around 70 kilometers. Once Phase-4 is completed, the Pink Line of Delhi Metro will also become the only Ring Corridor of Metro in India, the DMRC added.
