News Brief
Chennai Metro Nears Tunnelling Breakthrough At Mandaveli After Lengthy Delays
Work on an underground tunnel in progress. (@mycitymychennai/Facebook)
After months of delays, tunnel boring machine (TBM) ‘Noyyal’ is finally set to complete tunnelling between Greenways Road and Mandaveli for Chennai Metro Rail’s Phase II project by October, The Hindu reported.
The Greenways Road–Mandaveli stretch forms part of Corridor 3 of Phase II, a 45.8 km route linking Madhavaram with SIPCOT via Mandaveli.
TBM ‘Noyyal’ began tunnelling from Greenways Road station in September 2023, tasked with carving out a 750 metres underground passage. It was followed by TBM ‘Vaigai’, which is progressing along the parallel tunnel.
Officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) said the six-month completion target proved overly ambitious due to unforeseen engineering challenges, particularly at Mandaveli.
“We had to shift four massive water and sewer pipelines to build the diaphragm wall. For building a shaft of the station, we had to divert the utilities and then restore it to the original location. There were two major water pipelines we had to move, with one being 800 mm in diameter and the other being one metre in diameter. Also, two big sewer lines which were of 900 mm diameter and 1.2 m diameter had to be shifted. For the diversion of these pipelines, a pumping well had to be constructed too. It was much more difficult than what we had expected and hence took a long time,” a CMRL official was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
“The contractor building the station too delayed the work. But we did put pressure, and work will be finished shortly,” another official was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
The TBM has since been stationed outside the unfinished Mandaveli station but is expected to break through within two to three weeks.
By 2028, the section will enable services between Greenways Road and Thirumayilai, marking a critical milestone for Chennai’s expanding metro network.
