Tata’s Chennai Metro Phase 2 TBM S97 Records 4th Breakthrough

Tata Projects Ltd. (TPL) today afternoon celebrated tunnel boring machine S97’s breakthrough at Madhavaram High Road Station for the 116.1 km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project.

Nicknamed TBM Podhigai, this was S97’s first ever tunnel breakthrough and the 4th of 24 breakthroughs planned on 45.4 km Line-3‘s civil construction Package TU-01 connecting Venugopal Nagar – Kelly’s.

TPL’s tunneling crew had commissioned this Ø6.61m diameter Terratec Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machine from Madhavaram Milk Colony Station’s south shaft in mid-January 2023. It traveled approximately 1.4 kms in 9.5 months to build the down-line tunnel towards Kelly’s.

Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) had awarded Tata Projects with Package TU-01’s Rs. 1999 crore contract in May 2021 with a 42 month deadline.

TBM Podhigai along with 6 other TBMs will build approximately 9 km twin tunnels (total 18 km) on Line-3’s Venugopal Nagar – Kellys underground section. The scope also includes construction of diaphragm walls, entry/exit structures of Madhavaram Milk Colony Station, Murari Hospital Station, Ayanavaram Station and Purasaiwakkam High Road Station.

With this development, 4 tunnels have been built connecting Venugopal Nagar – Madhavaram Milk Colony – Madhavaram High Road stations, a distance of roughly 2.5 kms including station boxes.

TBMs for all 4 were launched from Madhavaram Milk Colony. Recap of breakthroughs:

• June 2023: TBM S98 (Anaimalai) at Venugopal Nagar – 415m
• August 2023: TBM S96 (Nilgiri) at Madhavaram High Road – 1.4 km
• September 2023: TBM S99 (Servarayan) at Venugopal Nagar – 415m
• November 2023: TBM S97 (Podhigai) at Madhavaram High Road – 1.4 km (this post!)

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– TMRG