Page 20 - CO January 2022

INTERACTION COVER STORY

• Can achieve very high carrying capacity (40,000 – 80,000 also difficult due to traffic congestion in the area.
PHPDT) • A total number of 634 U-girders were erected on the elevated
• Requires 1/5th energy per passenger km. compared to road stretch of the North-South corridor from KD Singh Stadium to
• Causes no air pollution in the city. MunshiPulia. These U-girders are 27 m long and 4.1 m wide,
• Reduces noise level. weighing around 150 tonnes.
• Occupies no road space, if underground and only centre • The major challenges like erection of 225 m long balanced
median (about 2 Metre wide) of the road, if elevated. cantilever span at Mawaiya railway crossing with operational
• Carries same amount of traffic as up to 6 lanes of bus traffic Indian railways lines beneath, erection of 60 m special steel
or up to 26 lanes of private motor cars (either way)is more span at Awadh rotary, 177 m long balanced cantilever
reliable, comfortable and safer than road based system. bridge on Gomti river and another 60 m special steel span
• Reduces journey time by 50-75% depending on the road at Nishatganj (constructed in just 5 days), were overcome by
conditions. strategic planning and careful execution by the dedicated
• Beyond 15,000 PHPDT, rail based systems are financially team of engineers.
superior than road based systems
• The economic and social benefits of the rail based systems Green initiatives taken for the Metro Rail project.
make them attractive even at lower PHPDT. UPMRC made sure that the green cover of the city remains intact
and more and more green practices were adopted during the
What are the challenges specific to the metro projects and how construction phase. Around 410 trees were transplanted (pulled
has it been overcome. along with the roots and relocated elsewhere) and altered the
Utility identification proved to be a challenge. The entire city route map’s design at certain places to save over 500 trees.
had already been utilized for civic infrastructure facilities. The UPMRC also took steps towards waste reduction and use of
old city area had a high water level which created difficulties renewable resources (Solar panels installed at Transport Nagar).
in underground construction. The roads in those areas were To keep the city’s roads clean, a wheel washing plant was installed
congested and traffic management became a core issue. at construction sites and every loading-unloading vehicle that
Traffic diversion was a challenge because substitute routes were moved out of the construction site was made to pass through
needed to ease the problems. The UPMRC team had to widen the wheel washing plant. Only after the dirt-packed wheels were
some footpaths, remove electrical poles, cables & also shift some washed and cleansed off the construction mud, the vehicles
water pipelines and sewer lines. With efficient management, it was moved outside the construction site onto the city roads.
ensured that the public did not face any trouble.
• During the construction phase of underground section, 4.5 Green Initiatives:
lakh tonnes of mud was removed to make tunnels. A total • Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) certified LMRC a “Green
number of 2321 piles were erected during the construction Metro Rail System”, awarding platinum certificate to all its
phase which included 541 pile caps as well. eight Metro stations on the ‘Priority Corridor’ from Transport
• 21 different types and sizes of steel spans were constructed Nagar to Charbagh.
in this project like 60 m steel span (near Nishatganj flyover) • LMRC was awarded with the International Organization for
and 45 m steel spans (one beside Hotel Clark Awadh and four Standardization (ISO) 14001:2004 & the Occupational Health
in Indira Nagar, in proximity to HAL). Apart from this, the 541 & Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS)
piers, 262 pier caps and 39 cantilever pier caps were also • 18001:2007 certificates in recognition of the organization’s
erected successfully. integrated management system which complies with the ISO
• The most remarkable achievement was the erection of & OHSAS standards and requirements
curved U-girders near IT intersection for the first time by
Lucknow Metro Project team. Solar Initiatives:
• The erection of I-girders near the polytechnic intersection was • LMRC has installed 1 MWP capacity of solar panels on the

20 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|JANUARY 2022