Tata’s Chennai Metro TBM S1330A Passes Factory Tests

Tunnel boring machine manufacturer Herrenknecht this week completed factory acceptance tests (FAT) on S-1330A – their 1st of 2 machines for Package TU01 of the 118.9 km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project.

This 100m long Ø6.65m earth pressure balance (EPB) machine will be deployed by Tata Projects along with 6 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.

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 Projects will be deploying 7 TBMs – 4 new Terratec machines (S96, S97, S98 and S99), 1 refurbished Terratec machine (S81 from Pune Metro) and 2 Herrenknecht machines.

The first machine (S96) was commissioned 10 days ago at Madhavaram in north Chennai. Tata’s tunneling plan still 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.

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– TMRG