Chennai: Come rain or floods, Chennai Metro Rail Limited’s (CMRL) tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will start drilling under our feet in two weeks. With the late monsoons finally cooling the summer heat, concerns have been raised on how the boring work will go on if the streets adjoining the parks-turned-stations are flooded. “All the TBMs are completely water-proof and will not be affected by waterlogging,” said a senior official with Larsen and Toubro, consultant for CMRL. “Dewatering pumps (50 hp) are ready to drain out the water stagnating in the underground area where the TBMs have been placed,” he added.
The TBMs will be boring under integral parts of the city to pave the underground passage way between CMRL stations at Shenoy Nagar, Mannadi, Washermenpet and several other corridors. Tunneling underground at the CMRL corridors at Ripon Buildings and Washermenpet are believed to be the most challenging because of a number of old structures there.
All the 11 TBMs that were assembled at specific sites, have been lowered into underground pits, from where the tunnelling is set to begin in the last week of July. “The rain water that is removed from the pits while the boring is on, will be pumped back into the Chennai Metro Water drains, leading to water bodies,” confirmed the official. Thus, it will not have any impact on ground water, he added.
Besides this, the CMRL workers have already been provided with extensive protective gear to shield them from the rain, “We are in the process of handing out the rain gear now and everyone will be equipped by the time the drilling begins,” he said. In case the rain is torrential at any given point of time, work can be stopped and the next shift will have twice the number of workers.
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