To ensure that traffic movement is not disrupted near ITO, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has changed its construction methodology for the construction of subways, which will come at the entry of the ITO Metro station to some of the points across the road from the station.
This new subway is being constructed below the busy ITO intersection roads (Indraprastha Marg) without disturbing the traffic on top.
The subway, after construction, will have entry and exit points near the Delhi Police Headquarters and the building of the Institute of Engineers on either side of the Indraprastha Marg.
The subway, a part of the upcoming ITO Metro station on the Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate corridor, is being constructed using the 'Box Pushing' technology with which vertical excavation or large scale digging is not required.
As per this technology, six Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) boxes are being pushed with the help of hydraulic jacks to create the 48 metre long subway tunnel. The boxes are being designed and constructed at the site itself. It takes about 21 days to cast one such box. A thrust bed is being created to generate enough force to push the boxes with the synchronized movement of the jacks.
This method is much faster than the conventional cut and cover technology used generally for the construction of subways. In the case of this particular subway, had DMRC opted for the conventional cut and cover technology, then it would have had to excavate the road above causing great inconvenience to the movement of traffic.
The work was started in June earlier this year and will be finished by the end of September. The condition of the road above will be monitored through various types of instrumentation methods like precise leveling studs on the pavement areas, settlement markers etc, during the entire construction period. The under construction ITO Metro station has six entry and exits points connecting different parts of ITO.
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In order to minimize the inconvenience to the movement of vehicles on the roads, DMRC has decided to use the 'box pushing' technology for the construction of a number of underground subways in Phase 3.
Apart from ITO, the technology will also be used for the construction of subways as well as entry/exit structures of Metro stations at Dabri Mor, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Nehru Place (on the Janakpuri West - Botanical Garden corridor) and Bhikaji Cama Place (on the Mukundpur - Shiv Vihar corridor).