The Hindu : New Delhi News : Airport Metro line on fast track

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Sunday, Jan 11, 2009
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New Delhi

Airport Metro line on fast track

Staff Reporter

Special girders, 25 metres long and weighing about 120 tonnes each, put to use

. Photo: V. V. Krishnan

Another first: For the first time in the country, Metro Rail launching extra-long girders in the construction of the Airport Express Line in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has launched extra-long girders to build the elevated stretch of the upcoming new Airport Express Link in the Capital. It is for the first time in the country that girders longer than the usual 2.5 to 3 metres have been used.

These girders, which are 25 metres long and weigh about 120 tonnes each, have been used in China and Taipei earlier.

“For the first time in the country, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is using extra-long girders to build the elevated stretch of the Airport Express Link that will facilitate completion of the project before the 2010 Commonwealth Games,” said a DMRC statement.

Extra-long girders are being used on the airport line mainly to speed up the construction process as the line is to be opened by October 2010.

“The Airport Express Link of the Delhi Metro is a 22.7 km long stretch of which a distance of 7 km between Buddha Jayanti Park and Mahipalpur is elevated. A total of 504 such girders will be used on this stretch, of which 22 have already been launched,” the DMRC said.

The girders are being cast at a yard in Mahipalpur from where they are carried by specially designed trailers that are 35 metres long and have 64 tyres.

“Two specially designed cranes of 250 tonnes each have been employed to launch these girders. Two more cranes weighing 400 tonnes and 500 tonnes have been brought from Mumbai which will be used for the launching process from next week,” the DMRC added.

The Airport Express Link will allow passengers to travel the distance between New Delhi railway station and Delhi airport in about 20 minutes flat.

The stretch will have a total of six stations -- New Delhi railway station, Shivaji Stadium, Dhaula Kuan, National Highway 8, Airport and Dwarka Sector -21.

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