Work on underground metro stations reaches roof slab stage

Work on underground metro stations is progressing fast. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Work on the underground stations on the East-West corridor of Namma Metro Phase 1 have reached a crucial stage: contractors have begun putting up roof slabs over the station box structure, which is a step closer to the project’s completion.

While nearly 90 per cent of the roof slab work on the City Railway Station underground metro station (near Leprosy Hospital on Magadi Road) is complete, over 50 per cent of the slab work is complete in Sir M. Visvesvaraya (Central College) and Vidhana Soudha underground stations, and it has just commenced in the Cubbon Park underground station.

According to a senior Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) official, work on these stations, except the Majestic underground station, is expected to be completed by year-end.

Thereafter, 11 different contractors will add finishing touches to the project, including track-laying and installing escalators, which might take another six months. The East-West line — from Byappanahalli to Mysore Road Terminal (Nayandahalli) — could thus be opened for commercial operations before the North-South line (Hesaraghatta Cross-Anjanapura).

Thus one can expect the original two-lane road between Vidhana Soudha and the High Court to be back by year-end, when BMRCL restores Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Veedhi to its original status, as promised by it. This holds true for the Old Post Office Road (Central College) and Minsk Square. The completion of the Majestic underground station, where the East-West and North-South lines criss-cross and two levels of the station are being built, would take some more time as work began belatedly. BMRCL is, however, striving to allow through traffic without halting for commercial operations, at least on the East-West corridor, according to the official.

The work area of each underground station is 270 m X 50 m while the station box measures 270 m X 25 m, the official said. The station’s roof would be 3 m to 6 m below the road. The roof slabs and walls are about 1 m thick, to bear load from all sides, the official explained.