Kanpur Metro’s 4th TBM Vidyarthi Launched by Afcons Infra

Afcons Infrastructure in December-end quietly commissioned their second tunnel boring machine, TBM Vidyarthi (S-639B), for constructing Kanpur Metro’s underground package KNPCC-06 (Nayaganj Station – Transport Nagar Ramp).

This Herrenknecht Earth Pressure Balance machine is 32.38 km Kanpur Metro Phase 1 project’s fourth TBM to be deployed so far for constructing 23.785 km Line-1 between IIT Kanpur and Naubasta.

The machine had earlier been deployed in Kolkata by Afcons to build the up-line tunnel of Kolkata Metro’s 16.34 km Line-2 between Howrah Maidan – Esplanade. Along the way, it passed under the Hooghly River in June 2017. It was then refurbished at Afcons’ yard in Butibori, Maharashtra where it passed factory acceptance tests (FAT) in June 2023.

Afcons’ team started lowering TBM Vidyarthi’s parts into Kanpur Central Station’s shaft in September 2023. For its first assignment, Vidyarthi will build a roughly 1250m long underground tunnel for the down-line from Kanpur Central Station towards Nayaganj Station.

The machine has so far built 8 temporary and at least 12 permanent rings (1 ring is 1.4m wide) for its initial drive. Its back-up gantry will be lowered and attached later for the main drive.

Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) had awarded Afcons – SAM JV with 4.65 km KNPCC-06’s contract in March 2022 with a 36 month deadline and value of Rs. 1087.67 crore (INR 1062,02,00,000 + EURO 29,00,000).

This section connects Nayaganj Station and Transport Nagar Ramp via 3 underground stations at Kanpur Central, Jhakarkatti and Transport Nagar.

Afcons’ first machine (S-640B known as TBM Azad) working on the parallel up-line tunnel started tunneling in October, and I hear it has built 190 rings so far from a total scope of roughly 800 rings.

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– TMRG