The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday achieved a milestone in its Phase 4 work by commencing the casting work of u-girders which would be installed on the elevated section of the Janakpuri West – RK Ashram corridor.
These u-girders, 28 metres in length, will be subsequently installed on this corridor. Earlier, on the Dilshad Garden – Shaheed Sthal Metro corridor, such 28 metre long u- girders were installed. On the Noida – Greater Noida section, 27 metre long u-girders had been installed.
The casting work is being done at the designated casting yard for this section, located at Mundka. The commencement of the casting of the first u-girder was also witnessed by DMRC’s Managing Director, Dr. Mangu Singh and other senior officials via video conferencing on Wednesday.
This is a major milestone for DMRC, as despite severe crunch of workforce due to the ongoing pandemic and various other lockdown related constraints, the casting yard was readied within a record period of 94 working days. Every month 56 such u-girders shall be produced at this casting yard. In total, about 2,200 different pre-cast components required for construction such as u-girders, pier-caps, cross-arms, pie-girders will be casted at this yard.
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/ launchers.
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 Mundka, 10 u-girder casting beds have been put up for the job. A dedicated quality control laboratory has also been set up to monitor all quality related parameters.
The 28.92 km long Janakpuri West – R. K Ahsram Marg corridor is an extension of Magenta Line and will come up with 22 stations. Construction work on this particular section had started in December last year.
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 4. Under this phase, 61.679 kilometres of new Metro lines shall be constructed across three different corridors comprising of 45 Metro stations. These new sections shall provide interconnectivity among the already operational sections of Delhi Metro.
Source: DMRC-Press Release
