Work begins on Valsad ROB with innovative out-of-box approach on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

June 15, 2021 Rail News

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted construction activity. However Team DFC has in an innovative out-of-box approach initiated work on the Valsad Road Over Bridge (ROB) in Gujarat state on the Western DFC. Working in tandem with various Government agencies and the Civil administration, the ROB which funnels busy traffic into Valsad ROB from the Mumbai-Delhi highway, a 20 day traffic block was secured on 02.06.2021 for dealing with this challenge.

  • Work in Western DFC’s Vaitarana–Sachin section of Western faced a bottleneck of crossing a ROB near Valsad Town in South Gujarat.
  • The ROB work could not be started due to various limitations and track laying activities would have been adversely affected.
  • Track laying projects using state of the art New Track Construction (NTC) machine, would have been affected.
  • The project team geared up to take up this challenge.

Innovative solutions proposed:

  • After any brainstorming sessions, an innovative solution was arrived at.
  • The solution proposed was to insert a Twin precast box of 16m x 10msize on the approach of the ROB to take the NTC forward through it.
  • The biggest challenge in doing this work was the road traffic block, as this ROB is one of the busiest passages into the city of Valsad from Mumbai-Delhi highway.
  • The whole work is planned to be completed in 20 days road traffic block.
  • Extensive arrangements were made for precasting these huge segments.
  • Despite lock-downs and travel restrictions, a team of approximately 150 nos, including senior engineers toiled day & night to finish the casting works.
  • Road traffic block was granted by the district administration of Valsad, responding favorably to the proposal.
  • The road traffic block of 20 days commenced on 02-06-2021 and the work is progressing as per planning.
  • Four heavy duty hydraulic cranes having capacity varying from 300 MT to 500 MT are mobilized for the installation of these segments.
  • Another challenge that was difficult to handle was solved by innovation in local handling of the segments.
  • The precast segments are too big & heavy to handle without causing any internal stresses during handling.
  • The Project Team has designed a special carrier using a multi-axle trailer fitted with a steel platform on it.
  • The fabrication of the steel platform was completely done at site even during the period when the industrial oxygen supply was prohibited in the country.
  • The team could overcome all such constraints by continuously striving for alternatives and by taping the collective wisdom & experience of the team.
  • DFCCIL officials stated that they are hopeful of completing the works within the traffic block period.
  • The officials shared profound happiness in the way project execution team is performing during the trying times of this pandemic.
  • When the NTC track laying machine wheels forward from the North end of Valsad ROB to the South end, it is another firm step towards the commissioning of DFC, one of the largest infrastructure projects of modern India.

About DFCCIL:

  • DFCCIL has been set up as a special purpose vehicle to undertake planning, development, mobilization of financial resources, construction, maintenance and operation of Dedicated Freight Corridors.
  • In the first phase, the organisation is constructing the Western DFC (1506 Route km) and Eastern DFC (1875 route km including PPP section of Sonnagar-Dankuni Section.
  • The EDFC starting from Sahnewal near Ludhiana (Punjab) will pass through the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand to terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal.
  • The Western Corridor connecting Dadri in Uttar  Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai will traverse through the states of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra of WDFC & EDFC.

Project Achievements:

  • WDFC’s 306 km Rewari -Madar section was dedicated to the nation on 07.01.2021.
  • Trial run of 369 km of WDFC between New Palanpur to New Kishangarh has been done.
  • EDFC’s 351 km New Bhaupur-New Khurja section and the Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj were dedicated to the nation by the Hon’ble PM on 29.12.2020.

Project Update:

  • A total of approx. 2800 route Km of the whole WDFC and EDFC (excluding the Sonnagar–Dankuni PPP section) will be commissioned by June 2022.
  • Till date in the commission section, a total of 4000 trains have been run.
  • In Eastern DFC it has more than 3000 trains and in WDFC more than 850 trains.
  • Total GTKM has crossed the 3 million ton mark.
  • Some of the trains in the section are achieving an average speed of 99.38 kmph in EDFC and 89.50 kmph in WDFC.
  • These speeds are comparable to any of the fastest mail express trains.

Source: DFCCIL-Press Release