CHENNAI: The work on the 7.8km underground tunnel under corridor 5 began on Wednesday with the launch of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) ‘Kurinji’ which will bore a 246m tunnel from Kolathur Ramp towards Kolathur Station (upline) and is expected to finish by June.
The TBM will then be retrieved and relaunched from the south shaft to tunnel towards Srinivasa Nagar (1.06 km). The second TBM, Mullai, is expected to arrive by the end of March and will begin tunnelling adjacent to Villivakkam Railway Station towards Villivakkam Bus Terminus (603m).
The remaining two TBMs will be launched based on site readiness, according to a CMRL release. The 7.8km stretch along with five underground stations from Kolathur Ramp to Nathamuni Ramp are being executed through Tata Projects limited, according to a release.
Additional chief secretary (special initiatives) Dr K Gopal along with Chennai Metro director (projects) T Archunan and other officials visited the site. The work on the stretch was delayed by a year due to the late awarding of tenders.