(Pics) TBMs S615 – S616 Getting Refurbished for Kolkata Metro’s Line-2
Here’s a picture-post on ITD-ITD Cem JV’s two Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines (TBMs) which are currently stationed at the contractor’s New Town yard waiting for the completion of a launch shaft at the Esplanade Interchange Station.
Named S615 and S616, these 75m long Ø6.65m earth pressure balance machines were procured by ITD-ITD Cem JV to build twin tunnels on the 16.34 km Line-2’s 5.263 km package UG-2 (Central – Sealdah – Phool Bagan – Subhash Sarovar Ramp), for which they were awarded a Rs 908.63 crore contract in February 2010.
Excavation works began in February 2012 from the ramp towards Phool Bagan Station and onward to Sealdah Station in 2013, where further tunneling was put on hold due to pending land acquisition for the interchange station, which was previously planned to connect up with Line-1’s Central Station. With the route not finalized towards Central Station, ITD-ITD Cem JV threatened to pull out of the project, and in the interim sent both machines to Delhi to work on the new 38 km Magenta Line’s CC-32 tunnels between Palam Station – Saddar Bazaar – Domestic Station – Shankar Vihar Shaft which got completed in June 2015.
With Line-2’s new route realigned and finalized via Esplanade Station in September 2015, both TBMs were sent back to Kolkata where they’ve since March 2017 been put through an extensive refurbishment plan. As per a reader’s comment below (verified to be from ITD Cem), the TBMs completed factory acceptance tests (FAT) on October 10 and 12 this year.
Package UG-2 (Esplanade – Phool Bagan Ramp) – view Kolkata Map & Information
As per the tunneling plan, both machines will be launched from Esplanade Station, travel beneath SN Banerjee Road towards Raja Subodh Mullick Square (where a ventilation shaft is planned instead of a station), and then arrive at Sealdah Station – covering a distance of about 2.2 kms.
Some images –
Some older images of the TBMs’ parts shot between April and August –
Cutterhead (bottom) and mid-shield
Backup gantry
Stacked up tunnel segments
Ground work for the construction of a launch shaft at Esplanade Station was inaugurated in June 2017, and is expected to be ready for deploying both TBMs by April 2018. Until then, both machines will continue to be housed at ITD’s New Town Yard.
For more updates, check out the Kolkata section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
So there will be 4 tbms in total or more?
Total of 4 –
2 on UG-1 (S-639 and S-640) which will soon enter Mahakaran Station from the Hooghly River side
2 on UG-2 (S-615 and S-616) – the ones above
Have you finally found a reliable source for Kolkata? 🙂
For UG-1 – yep, at the beginning of this year.
UG-2 is a tough cookie as only diaphragm wall works are underway. ITD in 2014 let go/released almost all of their project staff due to the delays. Hoping to make connections after ITD on-boards their tunneling crew and begins lowering the TBMs.
Good to know that!
For UG-1, I’m assuming there won’t be a breakthrough at Mahakaran Station and the TBMs will pass underneath directly as it did in Howrah Station. Is that right? By when can it be expected to reach Esplanade?
Earlier this month both TBMs were stopped about 120m short of Mahakaran station waiting for its diaphragm wall to be completed. Breakthrough will happen at Mahakaran Station in December, but won’t be visible as soil excavation work hasn’t started.
ETA at Esplanade is Q2-Q3 2018.
I wish they give them local names like the other TBMS. It makes the project a little more exciting.
Any update on Chennai metro last tbm breakthrough?
Afcons is aiming for December 15.
As we get closer to that timeframe, an accurate date will be known. I’ll tweet it out a day before or the day of.
Approximately how long will it take to complete the tunnelling work from esplanade to sealdah
Could take about a year. Things like local geology and structurally integrity of surrounding structures will play a role.
Actually FAT for both S-615 & S-616 has completed on 10th & 12th October 2017.
Thanks Bibek – I’ve updated the post above.
ITD/ITD Cementation JV had originally obtained 12 of the Schöma Model Type CFL180DCL tunnel construction locomotives for Delhi MRC, Line 6 (Violet), Phase II Contract BC-24 where there were 4 TBM used, with three Schöma tunnel locomotive servicing each TBM back-up. A number of these Schöma tunnel locomotives out of this batch have been later used to service the TBMs S-615 and S616 used on the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRCL) Contract UG2 which remains unfinished; and then on the Delhi MRC, Line 8 (Magenta), Phase III Contract CC-32 (UG-3).
These tunnel locomotives are also now in storage at ITC’s New Town yard along with the TBMs S-615 and S616. One can be seen stored under tarpaulins in the picture above entitled “Stacked up tunnel segments”.
This author would like to know which Schöma serial numbers are stored here?
-PGG-
Thanks for the brief history lesson! You’ve got a nice eye for detail – I didn’t spot that locomotive. I’d love to know more about all 12 locomotives’ current location & their serial numbers. Any and all information is always appreciated.
Usually about about two to three tunnel construction locomotives are needed to service the back-up gantries of each TBM. Depending on the length of the bore, and whether the muck disposal is being handled by rail, the diameter also influences with the weight of the segment sets for each complete ring build to hauled, not to mention supplies of soil chemicals and pea gravel for grouting.
In the Kolkata instance, there are only two TBMs now being used, so not all of the original 12 Schöma Model Type CFL180DCL tunnel construction locomotives will now be being used. The serials were 6262-6275, hence my desire is to try to determine which locomotives are remaining to be utilised here next. Probably only half the original number.
See also: http://www.itdcem.co.in/areas-of-operations/tbm-natm-tunnels/
-PGG-
How much kms. of tunnelling has been done with these two machines in the past?