Stepping up the work on Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor, NCRTC has successfully installed two special steel spans at Kondali in Delhi.
These special steel spans are part of a total of six special-spans structure being installed to cross the Ghazipur drain from New Ashok Nagar towards Anand Vihar.
The combined length of the six special steel spans is 360 m. This is the only place on the entire regional rapid transit system (RRTS) corridor where such a long viaduct is being constructed with steel spans.
Out of the six, two special steel spans weighing 540 tonne have been successfully installed and work on the third is being done.
The RRTS corridor is progressing parallel to the Ghazipur drain. These special steel spans are being installed where the corridor will cross the drain.
The spans will also cross over the road near Kondali Chowk. Out of the six special steel spans, the length of three spans will be approximately 70 m each and the remaining three will be 50 m each, weighing 380 tonne.
The spans installed parallel to the Ghazipur drain is about 70-m-long and 14-m-wide. It was placed on the pillars, at a height of about 6 m from the ground level with the help of big cranes.
Another four spans to be installed in the area are under construction, out of which construction of another 70-m-long span is almost 50 per cent complete.
A little ahead of these spans in the direction of Khichripur, an underground ramp is being constructed, which will connect this elevated section to the underground Anand Vihar Station via underground tunnels.
National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) usually erects pillars at an average distance of 34 m for the construction of an elevated viaduct of the RRTS corridor.
These pillars are joined by pre-cast segments with the help of a launching gantry to form the RRTS viaduct span.
However, in some complex areas where the corridor is crossing rivers, bridges, rail crossings, metro corridors, expressways or other such existing infrastructure, it is practically not possible to maintain this distance between pillars.
In such areas, steel spans are being used to connect the pillars.
The installation of the steel span near the 40-50 m wide Ghazipur drain, which is flowing diagonally to the corridor alignment is a challenging task.
The NCRTC team, following all the norms and taking all the precautions completed it successfully.
Special steel spans are massive structures, consisting of beams made of structural steel. Segments of structural steel are first manufactured in the factory and then laden onto trailers brought to the site during the night, to avoid any traffic problems.
These parts are then assembled at the site by systematically joining together with the help of a special process.
The shape and structure of these steel spans are specially designed to suit all the requirements of construction, installation and usage.
So far six special steel spans have been installed on the Delhi Meerut RRTS corridor, including a 50-m-long span at Meerut on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, a 73-m-long special span at Vasundhara on the main line of the railway, a 150-m-long span near Ghaziabad station, two 45-m-long steel spans for RRTS viaduct going towards Duhai Depot and a 73-m-long span for crossing Eastern Peripheral Expressway.