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Deadlines are out of the window as the work of Namma Metro encounters harsh ground realities.

The most recent deadline given for the ambitious project was June 2016. Even this seems unlikely.

Three tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are drilling their way towards Kempegowda Interchange, but since December they have not covered more than 120 metres, which leaves a further 1,350m to go. There is no headway on one of the tunnels — between Chikpet and Majestic.

“It is taking time to tunnel in these stretches. The hard rock, particularly quartzite, is causing carbon monoxide and heat build up in the tunnels. We need to wait till the tunnel cools down and ensure that the area is safe for our workers before they fix rings,” said U.A. Vasant Rao, spokesperson of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. Nearly a decade ago, when construction began, officials announced that the project would be completed by 2013. Since then, numerous deadlines have gone by. BMRCL is no more giving out deadlines.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/delays-force-bmrcl-to-give-up-deadlines/article8105410.ece?homepage=true

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BMRCL is a parastal, which has done little to alleviate traffic woes in Bangalore.

Only Bangaloreans who are not even aware of what suburban rail is shall go gaga over such systems.

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The government should set up a commission to find out reasons behind the delay in execution of the 42-km-long Namma Metro Phase I project. The implementing agency should let people know on why there is a delay. Complexity of geology is not the reason

This is what metro man Sreedharan said yesterday about the metro work in Ph 1 Wonder what he meant and wonder if the whole thing will stay under wraps for ever!

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 I had to run an errand in the MG road area this weekend.  In a moment of pedestrian insanity, on the way back, I decided to walk from Trinity circle to Airport road via Ulsoor, CMH road and Indiragar 100 ft road.  Took some pictures which are posted below as an update.

The whole route is like a war zone. Construction has upended the whole route.  Not only is vehicular traffic impacted, there is absolutely no level surface for pedestrians to walk peacefully.  I had one almost fall when the choice of where to step proved to be poor.

 

Ulsoor station (1 of 4) 

From Metro230110

 

One of the massive cross beams of Ulsoor station

From Metro230110

 

 

Yet another view of Ulsoor station

From Metro230110

 

One more perspective of the beam.

From Metro230110

 

A dual pillar arch where a single pillar would have blocked the intersection

From Metro230110

 

CMH road station columns

From Metro230110

 

The turn to Indiranagar 100 ft road from CMH road. The Toyz and Toyz building becomes an island.

From Metro230110

 

After the curve heading off into 100 ft road.  I did not walk up to take a look, but it looked like all the spans had been erected upto OMR.

From Metro230110

 

Looking back to CMH road - this road, probably because of its gradient has some of the shortest as well as some of the tallest pillars I have seen for Phase-I

From Metro230110

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What was announced as a New Year’s gift to the city — the East West corridor of the Metro line connecting Byappanahalli and Mysuru Road — may take a ‘few more months’ to become operational.

Though trials on the stretch have been going on for the past two months, BMRCL said the Commissioner of Railway Safety, who has to give the final go ahead, is yet to be approached. Tentatively, Metro says the request may be sent only by January-end.

However, if one goes by the experience of the Magadi Road line, commencement of operations may be some months away. It took seven months after trials began for the CRS – who was preoccupied with other railway investigations – to give the green signal for the line.

For the trials in the underground section between M.G. Road station and Magadi Road station, Namma Metro had for the first time in India employed the Instrumented Measuring Wheel, a pair of wheels imported from Sweden which are fitted with GPS, gyroscope and many other modern instruments. They were fitted on a coach.

For over six nights, the coach zoomed on the lines at over 90kmph.

Officials were also testing the steep curves (around 120m radius between Minsk Square station and Vidhana Soudha, which is not seen in other metros).

Apart from over 75 engineers, members of the Research Designs & Standards Organization also took part in the tests.

Better prepared for Phase II

Learning from the struggles in burrowing underneath a city that sits on mounds of quartzite, granite and hard rock, BMRCL hopes to be better prepared for Phase II, which features a larger underground section. Phase I has 8 km of underground lines.

BMRCL officials said borewell rock testing for Phase I – to ascertain the kind of geology – was carried out at intervals of 100 metres along the line, depending on availability of space. However, with the second phase having 13.79-km of underground lines, metro officials said testing will be carried out at intervals of around 25 metres.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/dont-hold-your-breath-new-year-gift-is-a-few-months-away/article8104289.ece?ref=tpnews

 

 

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