The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today introduced a major innovation in its construction technology by starting launching work on the Janakpuri West – RK Ashram Marg corridor with a specially designed Launcher attached with a Transporter for the launch of U-girders on its elevated section. The launcher started work near Majlis Park in the presence of DMRC’s Managing Director, Dr. Mangu Singh and other senior officials.
- In the earlier phases of construction, erection of U-girders was done with the help of two cranes of capacity 350/400T which were placed at each pier location and the U-girders were transported at each pier location with the help of a long trailer having an approximate length of 42m.
- In a congested urban area like Delhi, it used to be very challenging to find adequate space for positioning these heavy capacity cranes which occupy a lot of space.
- In addition, transporting the U-girders of 28m length with such long trailers was also a herculean task as roads in the NCR are either too congested or have massive traffic volumes even during the night time.
- These limitations often discouraged the use of U-girders in construction in spite of the fact that the U-girders are the most suitable structures for viaducts in terms of cost and time.
- This new state of the art Launcher with Transporter is fully electric with much higher output in comparison to the conventional launchers/cranes.
- The Transporter carries the U-girder from one designated point and moves forward on rails laid on the already erected U-girders to further add more U-girders from the feeding point to the launcher.
- As a result, the U-girders are to be transported on trailers only up to the feeding point identified at a suitable location and not for the entire length of work.
- This results in much less requirement of space.
About the new launcher:
- This new Launcher is 62m long having a total weight of 230T.
- It can negotiate gradients upto 4% and 200m radius curves.
- The Transporter which transports the U-girder is 41.75m long having a total weight of 35T.
- It can travel with a speed of 3 kmph at no load and 2 kmph at full load.
Benefits during construction:
- The output of this new innovation is quite high as compared to the conventional method of launching of U-girders.
- On an average, 4 to 6 U-girders per day can be erected with this Launcher whereas with the conventional method, about 2 U-girders can be done in congested working environments like in Delhi – NCR.
- The erection work of U-girders with conventional cranes can be done only during the night as it requires blocking of roads to position the cranes.
- Whereas in case of this new Launcher with Transporter, U-girders are transported with the Transporter on the erected viaduct without any interface with road from a single identified feeding point.
- Such a technology is being used for the first time in India.
- The total load of U-girders to be erected is as high as 160 ton and 462 such U-girders are to be erected in the contract.
- This launcher today has been made operational for the construction of a 9.5 kilometre long viaduct from Mukarba Chowk to Ashok Vihar covering four stations namely Bhalswa, Majlis Park, Azadpur and Ashok Vihar and a connection to depot from Majlis Park.
Project Monitoring:
Meanwhile, In a major initiative towards digitalizing its functioning, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has implemented a custom-made project monitoring software known as the Integrated Project Monitoring Software (IPMS) for monitoring the progress of its Phase 4 corridors and the Patna Metro.
- Through IPMS, all the stages of project planning and implementation right from the tender stage to revenue operation of each corridor will be monitored including the issues of work front availability such as land availability, tree transplantation and shifting of services and design status.
- For this purpose, corridor wise Master Construction Schedule has been prepared and uploaded in IPMS.
Features:
- The IPMS has the features of integration of other construction related software such as Primavera Schedules for Project Planning and 3D BIM (Three-Dimensional Building Information Modelling) and a Mobile App through which the actual progress at site on real time basis can be uploaded in IPMS.
- IPMS will monitor the progress of work of all disciplines – Civil, Electrical & Mechanical and Signalling & Telecommunication contract package wise at the Chief Project Manager and Project Manager levels and Corridor wise at the Directors and Managing Director level.
- Role Based Access is provided right from Higher Management to the Junior Engineer level through specially designed Dashboards and a Mobile Application.
- The project progress can be viewed in Dashboards as well as in 3D Models.
- The software was launched in April earlier this year and is being used for monitoring the progress of contract packages which are awarded and in progress.
- As the works get gradually awarded, they are integrated in IPMS.
- Till Phase 3, DMRC’s project monitoring was being done offline.
- With the implementation of this new technology, DMRC’s engineers can now monitor the progress of work through this dedicated platform.
- Specially designed dashboards will feature progress of all major components of construction and their status can be checked just by the click of a button.
Benefits:
- The implementation of this software will enable easier round the clock monitoring of projects, as the IPMS portal can be accessed from anywhere on mobiles, laptops, computers.
- This will also help in better record keeping and knowledge sharing among the engineers.
- DMRC’s Vendor Payment Portal which carries all relevant information regarding payments made to the vendors will also be integrated with this platform in the days to come.
- This project by DMRC is an excellent example of the government’s Digital India as Well as Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
- A consortium of three Indian companies has been assigned with this responsibility and the software has been indigenously developed by Indian Engineers.
Source: DMRC-Press Release
