The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has launched the first ever U Girder on the ORR-Airport line. The first U Girder span was placed between two pillars near Bagmane Tech Park on Saturday night.
BMRCL officials said that use of the U Girder on this line will help in expediting the project. In phase I and phase II of the project, the BMRCL had used a box girder to build the elevated corridor. Earlier, to place ten segments of the box girder, the BMRCL needed 5 to 6 days even with the help of huge cranes. But now, the single span of the U girder can be erected overnight.
Zakir Hussain, chief engineer, BMRCL, said, “U girders will involve casting the entire span of a viaduct between two piers in a single piece, whereas box girders will have many segments between two piers. One U girder between two pillars can be erected overnight, against 6 to 7 days in case of segmental construction. The weight of a complete span of U girder is much lesser than the segmental box girder.”
The BMRCL is building a 58 km ORR-Airport metro line from the Central Silk Board to Airport via K.R. Puram, Nagawara and Hebbal. Between Central Silk Board and K.R. Puram, the BMRCL is implementing the project in two packages. The official said that between Silk Board to Kodibeesanahalli, 35 piers have come up and 15 have come up from Kodibeesanahalli to K. R. Puram. He said six more U girders will be erected in the coming days.
Anjum Parwez, MD, BMRCL, said the use of U girders will help in expediting the project. “A single span of 24 m can be launched overnight, whereas erecting the box girder with the help of the launcher was a tedious process. Earlier, heavy machines were at the construction sites to erect the segments of box girders. This is not the case now. It takes time for construction of piers, but U girders will be saving a lot of time. We are hoping that this will help in timely completion of the project.”
The BMRCL had set 2024 as the deadline to complete the construction work between Silk Board and K.R. Puram. The official added that already 40 U - girder spans are ready at the yard. The BMRCL is coordinating with the city traffic police while transporting the span as traffic diversion is required.
