Tunneling under Adyar at Metro Rail’s Phase-II

Chennai Metro Rail's (CMRL) tunnel boring machine (TBM) ‘Kaveri’ has

started drilling under the Adyar riverbed as part of the phase-II project

for the city. While the riverbed ranges in depth from three meters to

five meters the track will be laid at a depth of about 18 meters. Adyar

Junction is one of the important stations on Corridor-3 (Madhavaram-

Siruseri SIPCOT) of the phase-II project.

In February, ‘Kaveri’ was launched at Greenways Road Metro (also a

part of corridor-3) and started tunneling towards Adyar Junction, to

expand the city's metro network.  A total distance of 1.2 km needs to

be covered to build a tunnel between Greenways Road and Adyar

Junction, which includes a 400-meter stretch underneath the Adyar and

Thiru. Vi. Ka. Bridge

Of the twin TBMs, ‘Kaveri’ has tunneled a distance of 583 meters and

has reached the Adyar riverbed, while ‘Adyar’ has covered 250 meters

and will arrive under the riverbed in another 20 days. It is expected that

‘Kaveri’ will finish tunneling in three months.

The work at Adyar Junction station is in the initial phase and will pick up

pace soon.