Work begins on installation of steel spans on RRTS corridor in Delhi: NCRTC

Work has begun on installation of six steel spans on a 350-metre stretch of the Delhi-Meerut-Ghaziabad RRTS corridor in the national capital, officials said on Monday.

This is the only location on the entire Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor where such a long viaduct is being constructed with steel spans, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) said in a statement.

Of these, the about 70-metre-long first special steel span has been successfully installed. This special steel span, weighing 560 tonnes, has been installed in the Kondli area near the New Ashok Nagar RRTS station, it said.

The six steel spans are to be installed near Ghazipur drain for construction of the viaduct.

The RRTS corridor is progressing parallel to the drain. These special steel spans are being installed where the corridor will cross the drain. These spans will also cross the road near Kondli Chowk.

The length of three spans will be approximately 70 metres each and that of the remaining three will be 50 metres each, the NCRTC statement said.

The combined length of these six special steel spans is 350 metres.

The span installed parallel to the Ghazipur drain is about 70 metres long and 14 metres wide. It was placed on pillars at a height of about 6 metres with the help of cranes.

Special spans are massive structures, consisting of structural steel beams. Segments of structural steel are first manufactured in the factory and then brought to the site on trailers during the night to avoid traffic problems.

These parts are then assembled at the site by systematically joining them 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, the statement said.

So far, six special steel spans have been installed on the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor. These include a 50-metre one in Meerut on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, a 73-metre one at Vasundhara on the main line of the railway, a 150-metre span near Ghaziabad station, two 45-metre spans for the RRTS viaduct going towards the Duhai depot and a 73-metre one for crossing the EPE.

The NCRTC is implementing India's first Regional Rapid Transit System between Delhi and Meerut.

Trial runs on the main line for operationalisation of the 17-kilometre Duhai-Sahibabad priority section will began in early December. It is expected to become operational by April, sources had said in February.

The NCRTC aims to operationalise the entire 82-kilometre Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor by 2025, the statement said.