New Delhi, Aug 21 (PTI) The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Wednesday said it has completed an underground tunnel between Chhatarpur and Chhatarpur Mandir stations on the Tughlakabad-Aerocity corridor, a statement said.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena lauded the DMRC for completing the 865-metre tunnel under phase 4 of the Golden Line in a little over five months. The DMRC said a 97-metre-long tunnel boring (TBM) machine was used for the tunnelling work.

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The breakthrough of the TBM at the Chhatarpur Mandir site took place in the presence of Saxena, and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.

Taking to X, Gahlot said he was thrilled to witness the completion of the tunnel as he praised the DMRC for finishing the work in an impressive five and a half months using state-of-the-art TBM.

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Huge congratulations to DMRC and all the brilliant engineers and staff involved! Achieving this remarkable feat without disrupting any existing structures on the ground is a testament to the expertise and dedication of DMRC.

According to the DMRC, two parallel circular tunnels for up and down movement are being constructed on the stretch as part of the Aerocity–Tughlakabad corridor. The work on the other parallel tunnel on this section will be completed by September this year, it stated.

This new tunnel has been constructed at an average depth of around 15 metres. About 618 rings have been installed in the tunnel, which has an inner diameter of 5.8 metres, it said.

The tunnelling work involved numerous challenges, such as shifting a 66 KV electrical high-tension line. Additionally, the TBM had to cross below the existing Yellow Line viaduct without disrupting metro train operations on the Line, it said.

The tunnel has been built using the proven technology of EPBM (earth pressure balancing method) with a concrete lining made of precast tunnel rings. The concrete segments were cured with a steam curing system to achieve early strength, it stated.

As part of the phase 4 work approved so far, 40.109 km of underground lines are being constructed. The Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridor has underground sections totalling 19.343 km, the statement said.

A TBM is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross-section through various soil and rock strata. They can be designed to bore through anything from hard rock to sand, the DMRC said.

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