Click it and Unblock the Notifications
Travelling from Poonamallee to Marina Beach may soon become much easier, as Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has completed tunnelling work between Lighthouse and Thirumayilai metro stations.
Tunnelling Process
In an official statement, CMRL said that the tunnel boring machine (TBM) named Flamingo successfully finished digging the downline tunnel and achieved a breakthrough on Friday. Earlier, on February 9, another TBM called Eagle had completed the upline tunnel between the same stations. With both tunnels now ready, this stretch has reached an important milestone.
Chennai Metro Corridor 4
This section is part of the 26.1-km Corridor-4, which will run from Lighthouse to Poonamallee Bypass. Once completed, the corridor will improve connectivity across the city and make travel faster and more convenient.
Chennai Metro Tunnel to Pass Through Major Areas
The tunnel between Lighthouse and Thirumayilai is 1,985 metres long, which was built by Cemindia Projects Limited. The tunnel passes under some of Chennai's most crowded and sensitive areas. These include the Lighthouse locality, the All India Radio campus, the Russian Embassy zone, Rosary Church, the MRTS bridge, and the Buckingham Canal.
Challenges of the Tunnelling Process
According to CMRL, the tunnelling process was challenging. Workers had to deal with difficult ground conditions, including hard, rocky layers, shallow soil cover in some places, and very deep soil cover in others due to stacked tunnel designs. They also encountered unexpected gas pockets during the excavation.
Despite these challenges, the tunnelling work was completed successfully. This progress brings the Corridor-4 project closer to completion and will soon allow commuters to travel easily between Poonamallee and Marina Beach by metro train.
