Two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) from Russia have arrived at the Metro Rail’s May Day Park site in Chintadripet.
The TBMs will be employed for tunnelling the stretch between Anna Salai and Gemini. About five Russians have been involved with assembling of these machines.
Tunnelling operations will begin in December, an official said. “There is a minor technical glitch which has to be cleared. Only then, the placement of temporary rings will begin,” he said.
It will take nearly a year to tunnel the distance of 2,820 metres from Anna Salai to Gemini, the official said. Tunnelling would be done at a speed of one or two metres a day, to begin with, and increased gradually.
Meanwhile, at Nehru Park station, where tunnelling work first began, the first TBM has drilled more than 100 metres. The second one was launched just a few days ago.
