L&T Launches Chennai Metro Line 3’s 1st U-Girder on OMR

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday launched their first U-girder for constructing 45.4 km Chennai Metro Line-3’s 10 km elevated package EV-01/RT-01 between Nehru Nagar – Sholinganallur.

This major milestone of the 116.1 km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project was recorded between Okkiyampet and Karapakkam on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) using a 30 meter long U-girder.

This is the longest ever U-girder to be erected in India for building a metro line’s viaduct. U-girders elsewhere, such as Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kanpur etc., have typically been a maximum of 27.90 meters long.

Per Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL)’s press release, Larsen & Toubro deployed an innovative puller axle system for transporting and erecting the girder, a first in Indian metro rail construction.

This special fabricated trailer made solely for the OMR stretch with 12 axles each with 8 tyres totalling to 96 tyres meticulously distributed across two axles, the puller axle not only emphasizes CMRL’s unwavering commitment to excellence but also establishes a new benchmark in metro construction ensures optimal weight distribution, stability, and flexibility during the seamless transportation of the 185MT U Girder.

CMRL had awarded EV-01/RT-01’s Rs. 963 crore construction contract to L&T in June 2022 with a 36 month deadline. Casting works for U-girders started in February 2023.

L&T’s scope includes constructing a 10 km viaduct starting from a ramp south of Taramani Link Road Station with 9 stations at Nehru Nagar, Kandanchavadi Perungudi, Thoraipakkam, Mettukuppam, PTC Colony, Okkiyampet, Karapakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam and Shalinganagallur.

Tunneling work north of the ramp is also being carried out by L&T as part of Package TU-02.

A video posted by CMRL can be viewed here on X.

L&T recorded this milestone in 19 months since the award of contract. This is on the higher side compared to U-girder launches elsewhere.

Site conditions vary vastly across the country, but for comparison with ongoing projects: JMC Projects took 7 months to launch their first U-girder in Kanpur, Sam India Builtwell took 13 months for Agra Metro, NCC took 17 months for Bangalore Metro’s Airport Line, while YFC Projects – Montecarlo JV took 21 months in Patna.

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– TMRG