Delhi Metro building bridge with longest span on its network

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is building a bridge with a 100-metre span over an operating railway line in the capital, which will be the longest span built by it so far.

A spokesman for DMRC said four Northern Railway lines were passing below the bridge that is coming up near Okhla in South Delhi.

He said the Metro was employing the "Cantilever Construction (CLC)" methodology for building the bridge so that the rail traffic below was not hampered.

It is being built using M-60 grade concrete. About 130 workers are engaged in the construction of the bridge, the spokesman said.

According to him, the the construction of this bridge is a dificult task since it is being built on a very sharp curve with a 300 metre radius and the installation of the individual segments of the bridge on the curve is difficult as the rail traffic moving below cannot be obstructed during the construction.

The existing railway tracks below this bridge link New Delhi with Mathura and Agra on the main line to Mumbai and then to other parts of the country and, therefore, is a very important railway stretch. Earlier, the Delhi Metro had constructed a bridge over the Indian Railways lines near Pragati Maidan, where the length of the main span was 93 metres.

The bridge, which will be between the Okhla and Jasola Metro stations, will have a total length of 250 metres and is divided into three spans. While the middle span will be of 100 metres, the other two spans on the sides will be of 75 metres each.

Thie bridge is a part of the 20.16 km long under-construction Central Secretariat – Badarpur Standard Gauge corridor that is scheduled to be completed by September 2010 before the Commonwealth Games that Delhi is slated to host in October this year.

NNN