Agra Metro’s 1st Tunnel Boring Machine Passes Factory Tests
Tunnel boring machine (TBM) manufacturer Robbins in late-October completed factory acceptance tests (FAT) on 215-323 – their 1st of 2 refurbished machines for underground Package AGCC-02 of the 29.40 km Agra Metro Phase 1 project.
This Ø6.52m Earth Pressure Balance TBM had earlier been deployed by CEC-CICI JV to build Jaipur Metro Phase 1 project‘s 2.35 km Package UG-1B between Chandpole and Badi Chaupar stations. The project’s final breakthrough was achieved in July 2017.
The machine was then brought to Robbins’ yard located in Gurgaon’s Sector 74 (view on Google Maps) where it was extensively refurbished.
In Agra, this machine along with another refurbished TBM will be deployed by Afcons Infrastructure – Sam India JV to build 14.25 km Line-1’s 7.93 km RBS College Ramp – Taj Mahal Ramp section.
Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) had awarded Afcons – SAM Consortium with this section’s Rs. 1819.79 crore contract in March 2022 with a 48 month deadline.
Their section from chainage 3630.000 to 11564.485 consists of twin tunnels connecting 7 stations at Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Jama Masjid, SN Medical College, Agra College, Raja ki Mandi and RBS College.
Construction on the underground section was launched in April 2022 at Agra Fort.
Robbins Company earlier this month tweeted this video with some cool visuals from their Gurgaon yard:
Besides 2 Robbins TBMs, Afcons – SAM will be deploying another 2 Herenknecht machines from either Bangalore Metro’s RT-01 Phase 2 project or from Singapore.
Their 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
Two reminding TBM will be from Bangalore project