For the first time in the country, a 31-metre, single-span U-girder was successfully cast on Saturday night at the casting yard in Devanahalli for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP).
According to Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil, so far 28-metre U- girders have been used in other metro projects. This is the first time in the country it has been planned to use 31-metre U-girders for BSRP.
“These girders will be used to construct a viaduct (elevated section) of around 8 km from Hebbal to Yeshwanthpur which is a part of the Mallige line or Corridor 2 of BSRP,” he added.
In a release, the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (K-Ride) said that each of these U-girders, which allows the track to be laid right away, is made of 69.5 cubic metres of M60 grade concrete and weighs 178 tonnes and Corridor 2 requires 450 such U-girders.
“Claimed as an engineering marvel, this 31m U-girder has been designed by Assystem STUP for BSRP and proof-checked by IIT-Madras. Third-party design evaluation has been done by a General consultant (JV of Egis, Aecom and WSP). Entire supervision, precision execution, and quality control were closely monitored by K-RIDE,” the release stated.
According to K-RIDE sources, one single-span U-girder between two pillars can be built in a single night. Unlike box-girders or I-girders, track laying on these girders can be done right away and the use of 31-m single-span girders will reduce the number of piers and foundations as compared to 28-m girders, resulting in time being saved for completion of civil works.
