Tata’s Chennai Metro TBMs S97 & S98 Arrive at Chennai Port

Tunnel boring machines S97 and S98 last week arrived at Chennai Port in Tamil Nadu for constructing Package TU01 of the 118.9 km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project.

Both Ø6.61m earth pressure balance (EPB) machines, manufactured by Terratec in China, will be deployed by Tata Projects Ltd. (TPL) along with 5 other TBMs to construct approximately 9 km twin tunnels (total 18 km) on the new 45.813 km Line-3’s Venugopal Nagar – Kellys section.

Both machines had passed factory acceptance tests (FAT) this summer. Back in July, TPL received their 1st machine, TBM S96, in Chennai’s Madharavam neighborhood – see details and images.

TPL was awarded Phase 2’s Package TU-01 Rs. 1999 crore contract by CMRL in May 2021 with a 42 month deadline.

Scope of TU01: Construction of approximately 9 km twin bored tunnels (total = 18 km) from the TBM Retrieval Shaft near Venugopal Nagar (of Line-5) to Kellys Station, and the construction of diaphragm walls, entry/exit structures of Madhavaram Milk Colony Station, Murari Hospital Station, Ayanavaram Station and Purasaiwakkam High Road Station, including launching and retrieval shafts at the above stations.

Tata’s tunneling plan with 7 TBMs remains unknown to me at this time. If someone reading this is aware, then leave a comment below or shoot me a message via the Contact page.

As shared earlier, I reckon the 4th and final new machine in Terratec’s pipeline will likely have a serial number of S99. I hear Tata plans to refurbish and deploy Terratec TBM S81 from Pune and another 2 Herrenknecht machines from Singapore.

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– TMRG