Delhi Metro X HIPL: Changing the way people commute with metro construction in India
Heritage Infraspace India Limited (HIPL), as one of the best construction companies in India, has worked on many metro rail projects all over India, and one of its most prestigious projects has been the Delhi Metro projects. HIPL has had the opportunity to provide its services in the construction of the crucial metro station of Krishna Park Extension for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Here’s a look into the observations made, challenges faced, and solutions provided for the metro construction in India.
HCC-VCCL Joint Venture for DMRC Project – The client
- Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) is a mass rapid transit company run equally by the central government and the state government of Delhi. All the construction and operations of the Delhi Metro is managed by the Delhi Government.
- The Delhi Metro is considered to be the largest and busiest metro rail system in the country. It is the second oldest after Kolkata Metro construction in India.
- This project was a part of the joint venture of the HCC (Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd) and VCCL (Vensar Constructions Company Ltd), which was awarded to them in 2020.
- HCC has been one of the major contractors for metro rail construction in India, and were the ones who also built the Kolkata Metro back in 1995
Projects awarded to HIPL for the Delhi’s Metro construction in India
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- HIPL was contracted to work on Krishna Park Extension, an important metro station
- HIPL provided their services in Diaphragm Wall Construction, a segment we are best-known for and have pioneered in India
- HIPL worked in tandem with other prominent contractors and the state and central governments, who were leading and monitoring the projects’ progress.
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- The Krishna Nagar Extension was awarded to HIPL in 2020 as a part of the Metro Phase-4, where we worked under the HCC-VCCL JV.
Challenges in this project
- Krishna Park is located in an area that sees a lot of activity. Which meant securing an entire stretch for the excavation work and diverting the traffic on to a different path.
- Transporting various construction material, utilities, machinery, etc was a task on hand, given that both the location saw constant and heavy flow of vehicular and foot traffic in congested spaces.
- Keeping up with the strict pollution control standards for construction in public spaces by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Pollution Control Board (PCB). This was important since Delhi is notorious for its poor quality of air during winters.
- One of the biggest challenges with construction for the metro station is cutting down trees, which is highly frowned upon by the NGT and PCB.
- Another huge challenge was to deal with the regular lockdowns imposed every time there was a spike in the Covid-19 spread during the work on Krishna Nagar Extension.
- There was a tight deadline from the government, as both the areas were active locations and holding up daily activities for long construction projects would mean inconveniencing the residents.
Solutions provided by HIPL
- Since the Krishna Park extension station is an underground metro rail station, a basement had to be built with diaphragm walls (D-wall).
- HIPL excavated deep, narrow trenches in the marked location using its fleet of deep excavators.
- HIPL constructed 800 mm and 1000 mm running diaphragm walls for the metro construction project. Delhi Metro has been futuristic in its architectural thinking as they have been using the D-wall technology since Metro Phase-1
- The project was completed within the stipulated time duration of 6 months, despite the requirement of manual excavation during some phases of the projects.
Equipment and machines used for this project
HIPL is known for its enviable fleet of the most modern construction machinery, because of which it is known as one of the best diaphragm wall and piling construction companies in India. For all metro construction in India, HIPL uses the following heavy machinery apart from its usual excavators and earthmovers (JCBs).
- Casagrande B125 Diaphragm Wall Grab Rig: This is a specialist contractor equipment to perform large diameter rotary and CFA piling for the construction of diaphragm wall.
- Casagrande B200 Diaphragm Wall Grab Rig: It consists of a 240 kN high speed winch for effective and quick progression of work, while the H22 rotary head has a maximum torque output of 210 kNm and speed up to 34 RPM.
- Casagrande B250 Diaphragm Wall Grab Rig: A multifunction machine used to drill boreholes, insert/extract casings, to power the casing oscillator, for piling with continuous flight auger method and conversion in diaphragm wall equipment.
Important observations made by HIPL about these projects
Since the station was located in one of the most congested areas of Delhi, there were high chances of surprise discoveries during the excavation. Prior to excavation, the location had to be checked for any undiscovered underground cables, pipelines or construction, which may cause disruption.
This meant manual excavation work had to be commissioned in the initial stages of the project. It did take away crucial time from the project timeline and involved additional manpower, but was an important part of the work.
Soil management was another important segment. Since city streets were constantly worked upon to cover damages and potholes, the drilling and tunnelling work had to be done in a manner that didn’t disturb any of the neighbouring plots, buildings and caused any form of damage or degradation of the soil.
The project was completed within the stipulated time duration of 6 months, despite all the challenges the pandemic and other elements brought with it.
Upon seeing HIPL’s standard of work, the second phase for Krishna Park in 2022 has also been awarded to the team that worked on the earlier phases of the metro station.
To know more about the projects or to collaborate with us on your upcoming projects, get in touch with us today. Send us an email on info@heritageconstruction.in
