Delhi Metro Rail Corporation starts work of Aerocity-Tughlaqabad corridor

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday started work on the 22 km long Aerocity-Tughlaqabad corridor, which will connect the high-speed Airport Express Line with two busy metro corridors – Yellow (Samaypur Badli-HUDA City Centre) and Violet (Kashmere Gate-Raja Nahar Singh, Ballabhgarh) Lines.
On Monday, DMRC commenced the casting work of ‘U-girders’ for the 4.2 km long elevated section of this largely underground corridor.This stretch includes construction of four elevated stations - Sangam Vihar, Khanpur-Deoli, Ambedkar Nagar and Saket-G Block.
This elevated section would also boast of a first of its kind infrastructure project in the capital. The Mehrauli Badarpur Road in south Delhi will see a stretch of 2.4 km long double deck viaduct with the metro corridor on the upper deck and a six-lane road flyover on the lower deck, apart from a six-lane underpass that will connect Saket G Block to Sangam Vihar.
“After construction of this section, MB Road will be signal free from Sangam Vihar to Saket. A ramp will facilitate seamless traffic movement from the Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg to MB Road and an underpass will facilitate smooth movement of traffic from MB Road towards the Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), DMRC.

The Saket-G Block station will be constructed as an interchange station between Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridor and the proposed Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block corridor of Phase IV, which is yet to get the centre’s nod.
“The Aerocity-Tughlaqabad Corridor will come up with 15 stations. Despite issues such as unavailability of adequate labour force, DMRC is moving ahead with the construction work of all the three corridors approved so far as part of Delhi Metro’s Phase IV,” Dayal said. “Under this phase, 61.6 kms of new metro lines shall be constructed across three different corridors comprising 45 Metro stations. These new sections shall provide interconnectivity among the already operational sections of Delhi Metro,” he said.
The casting work of 28-metre long U-Girders for the corridor’s elevated section is being done at a casting yard located at south Delhi’s Pushp Vihar area. “With this, the construction work on all three priority corridors of Phase-IV has gained pace despite severe crunch of workforce due to the ongoing pandemic and various other lockdown related constraints,” Dayal said.
Over the years, DMRC has used different types of precast structures such as Box-Girders, I-Girders and U-Girders to construct its corridors. For its Phase IV project, however, DMRC has decided to standardise the usage of U-Girders for the entire network to save time and also lower construction cost.
U-Girders are precast, pre-tensioned, U-shaped girders on which track laying can be done immediately. These girders are readied in the casting yards and brought to the sites. “Metro projects across the world extensively use this technology in their construction nowadays, which saves time in construction besides ensuring better quality. After casting, these girders are brought to the site and launched with the help of high capacity cranes or launchers,” Dayal said.
Dayal said the casting work of these u-girders requires meticulous precision and planning. “Absolute care has to be taken regarding the maintenance of all measurements and technical parameters during the casting process. At the casting yard in Pushp Vihar, four U-girder casting beds have been set up, apart from a dedicated quality control laboratory to monitor all quality related parameters.