Delhi Metro to build longest span on bridge

The Delhi Metro is building its longest span on a bridge which will pass over the Railway tracks near Okhla on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line. The bridge will have a hundred metre-long span built over the operating Railway line in south Delhi.

The DMRC had to use such a long span over the Northern Railways track as four lines are passing below the bridge.

"The Delhi Metro is employing Cantilever Construction (CLC) methodology for its construction so that the rail traffic below the Metro corridor is not hampered," DMRC Chief Public Relations Officer Anuj Dayal said.

This bridge is being built using M-60 grade concrete and about 130 workers are engaged in its construction. The construction of the bridge is difficult since it is being built on a very sharp curve with a 300 metre radius and the installation of its individual segments on the curve is also not easy as the rail traffic moving below cannot be obstructed during the construction.

The railway tracks below this bridge link New Delhi with Agra, Mathura on Mumbai main line and then to other parts of the country and therefore is a very important stretch.

Earlier, the Delhi Metro had constructed a bridge over the Railway lines near Pragati Maidan, where the length of the main span was 93 metres.

The bridge, which will be between the Okhla and Jasola Metro stations, will have a total length of 250 metres divided into three spans.

It is a part of the 20.16 km long under-construction Central Secretariat?"Badarpur Standard Gauge corridor that is scheduled to be completed by September 2010 before the Commonwealth Games.