Span Work Starts for Lucknow Metro’s 255m Cantilever Bridge

Work to build the spans of Lucknow Metro’s ‘special’ 255m long cantilever bridge at Mawaiyya Railway crossing has begun! The bridge’s construction is being carried out using a form traveler system and will consist of 3 spans – a 105m long central span and two 75m long end-spans. It’s shape will be similar to the one recently built over the Punjagutta Flyover for the Hyderabad Metro and the one coming up south of Kochi’s Ernakulum Junction by the same contractor.

Construction for it under contract LKCC-02 was awarded to S.P. Singla in June 2015 at a cost of Rs. 34 crore with a completion time-frame of 16 months. Piling work began in September 2015 & pile cap works in December after which it took 5 months to get its 60 feet tall piers ready in April (see images).

Satellite view of the site – the 2 piers on either end the railway line are officially called P7-11 & P7-12

The bridge’s location is shown in black (LKCC-02)

A nice demonstration video on how construction will be carried out:

Photo Copyright: Sudeep Kumar

Photo Copyright: Sudeep Kumar

Photo Copyright: Sudeep Kumar

Photo Copyright: Sudeep Kumar

Slowly approaching IR’s steel bridge – Photo Copyright: Sudeep Kumar

The construction crew will take another 4-5 months to complete the spans after which other works (parapet, track installation etc.) on top of it will commence. As I’ve mentioned previously, this bridge’s timely completion is important so that the entire 8.48 km priority corridor of the north-south line opens up by February 2017. If it isn’t ready by that time, then the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation, under the state government’s pressure to deliver before the Legislative Assembly elections, would be forced to first start curtailed operations between Transport Nagar and Mawaiyya stations (see map) and later extend operations to include Durgapuri and Charbagh stations which lie on the other side of the railway tracks.

For more updates, check out the Lucknow section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG