A first in India: Nagpur’s 4-level transport corridor

With a fourlevel transportation corridor Nagpur has set an example for administration running cities with space crunch The unique multilevel transportation network will be seen for the first time in the country say officialsAn existing vehicular and pedestrian underpass forms the corridorrsquos bottommost level above which runs a railway line The topmost part of the corridor has a Metro line under which is a national highway This will be the part of Asiarsquos longest doubledecker viaduct spanning 53 kmPrime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the corridor on December 11 At the event the remaining routes of Nagpur Metro Phase1mdashroutes from Kasturchand Park to Automotive Square Line1 and Jhansi Rani Square to Prajapati Nagar Line2mdash will be thrown open to the publicldquoThis is what needs to be done in all cities with space crunch including Mumbai It is rare In Mumbai we have a threelevel transportation corridor at Currey Road There are multilevel flyovers abroad but I know nothing like this In London there are threelevel underground tube stationsrdquo said A V Shenoy senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum and Mumbai Vikas SamitiAlso read MumbaiAhmedabad Highway Spot where Cyrus Mistry died gets crash cushionldquoIf MMRDA had gone ahead with the original proposal of roadcumrailway bridge on Mumbai Trans Harbour Link then we would have had the harbour line Eastern Freeway MTHL road and railway However it spoils the skyline and the road below has no sunlight and ventilation Yesterday I observed the situation under DN Nagar and Azad Nagar Metro stations There is total darkness even during the day and sound pollution due to hornsrdquo Shenoy addedJitendra Gupta of Citizen Transport Committee however believes it is ldquoold wine in a new bottlerdquo He said ldquoThe Nagpur corridor is nothing new The British had already built one such bridge in Delhi over Yamuna river joining the main city with Jamuna paar Gandhi Nagar and ShahdarardquoldquoIf the city and the transport infrastructure are planned well all this may not be required Flyovers never solve any problem Look at our own SantacruzChembur Link Road SCLR for example We need planning based on common senserdquo said city architect and transport expert Jagdeep DesaiHow was it doneRailway officials said that it was a very complex operation and a first in India Afcons Infrastructure Limited erected the 80metre doubledecker steel span weighing 1650 MT in a record time of two months The steel superstructure was placed over the Gaddigodam Railway Crossing with a traffic of over 150 trains and 1 lakh vehicles Launching of the gigantic 189metrewide girder is probably a first in Indian RailwaysExplaining the complexity Afconsrsquos project manager Arun Kumar said ldquoThe doubledecker open web girder which was created with 8000 structural elements was placed over the busy Gaddigodam Railway Crossing last winter All the activities were done in extremely tight railway block hours given how busy this route is The span stands at a height of 28 metre above ground Such a critical and complex task has never been attempted before in IndiardquoBesides two adjacent composite girders with reinforced concrete deck slab each of 25metre span had to be completed During the preparatory stage the team manoeuvred the projectrsquos technical complexity amid space constraints at site severe winter unseasonal rains the pandemic as well as a tight deadline A crack team was formed which innovatively completed the task within two months adhering to all quality and safety standards said officials Several records were also created in the short period they addedldquoWe really had to dig deep into our reserves All forces collaborated to make this onceinalifetime challenge a success Apart from our colleagues at the site and head office we also enlisted expert support from our Chenab Railway Bridge Project to critically review our preparedness Manpower and machines were mobilised at an unprecedented pacerdquo recalled Project Controller Amarsinh RautFour 250500T cranes one super lift arrangement 22torque wrench machines were deployed and special lowering arrangements were made for the entire operationPhase1 of Nagpur Metro comprises a 39km elevated corridor Afcons has constructed 171 km of the line which is almost 44 per cent of the total viaduct length and around 51 per cent of overall civil works Besides the longest doubledecker viaduct Afcons has also constructed eight stations in Reach2 and Reach1 and two depots The Sitabuldi Interchange Station constructed by Afcons is the highest Metro interchange station in India11 DecDay it will be inaugurated