Chennai, Aug 26: C
Chennai Metro Rail Limited has completed the casting of the final pier on a major section of Phase II Corridor 5, marking a significant milestone in the construction of the city’s expanding Metro network.
The final pier, identified as P814 and standing about 25 metres tall, was completed near the Medavakkam-1 Metro station under the ECV-03 package. The work was carried out by CMRL along with general consultant AEON Consortium and the HCC-KEC Consortium.
The 11.3-km stretch between Ullagaram Metro station and ELCO T Metro station has involved the construction of 513 major piers supported by 2,351 piles.
One of the most challenging portions of the project lies between pier P879 near Medavakkam Junction and pier P868 on Semmozhi Salai. Several piers in this stretch rise to nearly 29 metres, making them among the tallest structures in the section.
The elevated Metro alignment also crosses above the existing Medavakkam flyover at a height of around 29 metres. Engineers have constructed a 57-metre steel girder span on a sharp curve with a radius of 125 metres, adding to the complexity of the work.
The Medavakkam-1 and Medavakkam-2 Metro stations are also being built at heights of around 29 metres above road level.
CMRL said construction in the densely populated and traffic-heavy area posed major challenges, particularly in traffic management and carrying out work safely close to and above an operational flyover.
With all pier works completed, the focus has now shifted to the installation of U-girders and accelerated construction of Metro stations to ensure the timely completion of the Phase II project.