CRCHI Completes Factory Tests on 4 TBMs for Bangalore Metro Line-4
In November-December 2019, tunnel boring machine (TBM) manufacturer China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (CRCHI) completed factory acceptance tests (FAT) on four new slurry TBMs for building tunnels on the 13.885 km Dairy Circle – Nagawara underground section of Bangalore Metro’s 21.386 km Line-4 (Reach 6 / Pink Line) of the 72 km Phase 2 project.
The two machines tested in November have been named “Avni” (DZ669) for RT-02 and “Urja” (DZ670) for RT-03, and are currently in transit to the city with an ETA of January-end. The other two tested in December have been named “Lavi” for RT-02 & “Vindhya” for RT-03.
All four Ø6.65m slurry machines will be deployed by Larsen & Toubro to build twin tunnels exclusively on the line’s 2.755 km package RT-02 (Vellara Road Station – Shivaji Nagar) and 2.884 km package RT-03 (Shivajinagar Station – Tannery Road), which were awarded by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd in February 2019.
Here’s a general alignment of the line. The BMRCL in January 2018 decided to stick with their decision to place the Cantonment Station at Bamboo Bazaar (see location) instead of the original location which was closer to the railway station (as depicted below).
Historically, slurry machines have outperformed Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machines in Bangalore. For Phase 1’s tunnels, the CEC-Soma-CICI JV deployed 1 Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machine and 2 Hitachi Zosen slurry TBMs (Helen & Margarita) to rapidly build the Purple Line’ UG2 section. Later on, they were roped in by BMRCL for completing one tunnel (using Margarita) on the Green Line’s UG1 section where the Coastal-TTS JV’s 2 x Herrenknecht and 1 x SELI-Kawasaki EPB machines did a poor job battling the city’s difficult geology conditions comprising a mix of of soft soil, high groundwater levels, hard granite and large boulders.
For in-depth reading on the slurry machines’ performance, I’d suggest these two Tunnel Talk articles –
• 17 March 2014 – Hard rock beaten on Bangalore slurry drives
• 27 Jan 2016 – Slurry or EPB for conditions in Bangalore
Meanwhile, Package RT-01 (3.65 km, South Ramp at Dairy Circle to Vellara Junction) was awarded to Afcons Infrastructure in June 2019. BMRCL requires them to deploy 3 TBMs. Package RT-04 (4.591 km, Tannery Road to North Ramp at Nagawara) was awarded to ITD Cementation also in June 2019. BMRCL requires them to deploy 2 TBMs.
For more updates, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
Hat Tip to Abhilash Singh
Any idea why they’ve been named as such?
Is this not a Red line?
MD was quoted saying pink in times of india report
From very long time it’s been called Red, if u even see older posts of TMRG it is called Red. I guess it’s changed…
Welcome back TMRG!!
Welcome back mate! TOI has acknowledged you as the source in their article
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/bengaluru-four-tbms-to-reach-in-february-to-bore-through-cbd/articleshow/73102209.cms
The colour of Gottigere-Nagawara line has been changed to pink to avoid red. In the mobility sector, red indicates ‘stop’,” BMRCL managing director Ajay Seth explained. Source TOI
Do you have any update on why there is no work happening on purple line[Phase2] between Byappanahalli to KR Puram Tinfactory ?
“BMRCL requires them to deploy 2 TBMs.” Two TBMs each (for Afcons and ITD-Cementation)?
No.
L&T will deploy 4 TBMs on the Vellara Road Station – Shivaji Nagar – Tannery Road stretch.
Afcons Infrastructure will have to deploy 3 TBMs on the South Ramp at Dairy Circle to Vellara Junction stretch.
ITD Cementation will have to deploy 3 TBMs on the Tannery Road to North Ramp at Nagawara stretch.
See the last paragraph of the post.