L&T Lowers TBMs Avni & Vindhya for Bangalore Metro Line-4

On Thursday evening, workers from Larsen & Toubro began lowering parts of tunnel boring machines DZ669 (nicknamed Avni) and DZ671 (nicknamed Vindhya) into the Shivajinagar and Cantonment stations, respectively, for building tunnels on the 21.386 km Line-4 (Reach 6 / Pink Line) of the 73.92 km Bangalore Metro Phase 2 project.

Both Ø6.65m slurry machines were manufactured at China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (CRCHI)’s plant in Changsha, China and passed factory acceptance tests in November – December 2019.

They arrived in the city in February & March and will be commissioned by L&T for building tunnels on the 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 (BMRCL) in February 2019.

Route of RT03 & RT02 – view Bangalore Metro Phase 2 info & route map

TBM Vindhya

In the afternoon, TBM Vindhya (DZ671) became the 2nd TBM after TBM Urja to be lowered into the Cantonment Station’s southern shaft for package RT-03. It will first build the up-line tunnel towards Shivajinagar Station and then be brought back to Cantonment Station for building tunnels towards Pottery Town and Tannery Road stations.

TBM Vindhya’s Front Shield – Photo Copyright: Anirudh S
Vindhya (left) and Urja (right) – Photo Copyright: Anirudh S

TBM Avni

In the evening, TBM Avni (DZ669) became the first TBM to be lowered into the Shivajinagar Station for package RT-02. Per the tunneling plan, it’ll first build the down-line tunnel towards MG Road Station and then recommissioned onward towards National Military School Station (formerly Vellara Junction).

TBM Avni’s front shield about to be lifted – Photo Copyright: Swati Tyagi
Photo Copyright: Swati Tyagi
Photo Copyright: Swati Tyagi
Avni’s front shield getting lowered – Photo Copyright: Swati Tyagi

Parts of L&T’s fourth and final machine – TBM Lavi – are planned to be lowered into Shivajinagar Station towards the middle of June.

May 29 7PM Update: L&T Began lifting Avni’s cutterhead

Photo Copyright: Swati Tyagi

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

– TMRG

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

9 Responses to "L&T Lowers TBMs Avni & Vindhya for Bangalore Metro Line-4"

  1. Sid says:

    That’s some post-apocalyptic sky..

    Reply
  2. Omkar says:

    How many will be deployed by Afcons and ITD?

    Reply
  3. Ashok Kumar says:

    Over the past week the garage which stood at the proposed Vellara Junction station has been razed down. Hoping that the piling work can finally begin.
    At the MG Road station it appears that the side diaphragm walls are ready and excavation of the box has started. The gantry crane assembly is also almost done.

    Reply
  4. Nagaraj says:

    Technology+wise china may be good than others.But patriotism is NIL in Indians. Thats why,even with 175 yrs British rule,Indians are still lagging behind.Still Chinese rule for 200 years may be required,on independant-like-India once again!

    Reply
  5. Parthasarathy S says:

    Good news. All the best for drilling to L&T as well as BMRCL..

    Reply
  6. Ronith says:

    Hi TMRG. Great coverage. I just wanted to know the timeframe on when they plan to start boring and building the tunnel, these 2 TBM’s and even TBM Urja?
    Thanks a lot

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Thanks! I spoke with someone yesterday at the very top of the food-chain at L&T and he said they’re still waiting for critical TBM equipment to be shipped from China. So give them a few months…

      Reply

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