Tata Projects assembles third Terratec EPBM for Chennai Metro Phase 2

03 Feb 2023 CW Team

Tata Projects commemorated the assembly of the third out of five 6.61 m diameter Terratec EPBMs they ordered for use in their underground works contracts with the Chennai Metro Rail Phase-II Corridors project in India.

Terratec is providing five of the total seven TBMs needed for the package. These TBMs will be used by Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL) to construct Phase 2 – Corridor 3, Package-TU01, from Venugopal Nagar Station to Kellys Station. This project entails making a pair of tunnels for a total of 18 km in length, spanning 9 km.

In October 2022, TBM S96 was the first to commence operations among all the TBMs, beginning excavation towards Madhavaran High Road.

TBM S97 followed suit, also beginning excavation from the same shaft – Madhavaran Colony – heading towards Venugopal Nagar (of Line-5) to Kellys Station. TBM S98 has also been dispatched, while TBM S99 is currently in the midst of the on-site assembly.

Additionally, the fifth machine (S81B) has passed the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) in Pune for Package TU01 of the 118.9km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project. It is noteworthy that this Ø6.61m EPBM was refabricated as per the ITA guidelines, a first-time occurrence in India.

It was initially used to construct a 2144m tunnel between Swargate and Budhwar Peth stations for the 16.6km Purple Line of the Pune Metro Phase 1 project back in 2021-2022.

One of the significant difficulties of the project is tunnelling beneath existing structures in densely populated areas. The TBMs have a dome-style cutter head designed to work efficiently in various geologies – mainly sand, silt, clay and occasionally weathered rock. As the TBMs advance, 1,400mm wide and 275 mm thick universal reinforced concrete lining rings are installed, consisting of five segments and a key.

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