Bhairon Marg-Ring Road underpass in final stages

The tunnel will provide signal-free access to traffic from Bhairon Marg to Ring Road. Designated underpass number 5, the project was derailed due to construction challenges related to heavy seepage of water, officials said.

Work on the last underpass of a network of tunnels that form the part of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Corridor Development is in the “final stages”, a senior Public Works Department (PWD) official associated with the project said on Wednesday.

The under-construction integrated transit corridor tunnel at the Bhairon Marg-Ring Road T Point. (Raj K Raj/HT)

The tunnel will provide signal-free access to traffic from Bhairon Marg to Ring Road. Designated underpass number 5, the project was derailed due to construction challenges related to heavy seepage of water, the official said, and added that of the 110-metres tunnel, work on the last 28 metres stretch is going on.

The Integrated Pragati Maidan Corridor development comprises of six underpasses and one main tunnel -- aimed at providing seamless connectivity to the Pragati Maidan complex as well as decluttering surrounding arterial roads such as Ring Road, Mathura Road and Bhairon Marg.

The main 1.3-kilometre tunnel between Ring Road and Purana Qila Road, and five underpasses were opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June last year. However, the Bhairon Marg-Ring Road underpass could not be completed.

The official who asked not to be named said that the underpass 5 consists of two sections -- a two-lane box and 3-lane box. “The overall length of the tunnel section is 110 metres, and two-lane box is now ready. The three-lane box will be completed by March. Currently, work is going on the last 28-metre section. The facility is expected to be opened for traffic flow in April,” the official said. Other senior PWD officials, however, did not confirm the April deadline

The two-lane section will carry traffic moving from ITO-Ring Road towards Bhairon Marg while the 3-lane section will take vehicles from Bhairon Marg towards Ring Road, the official said.

Once completed, the underpass will facilitate signal-free connectivity on the Ring Road between Sarai Kale Khan ISBT and Kashmere Gate. Currently, Sarai Kale Khan bound traffic on Bhairon Marg have to take a left turn on Ring Road and then take a U-turn from near the petro pump close to IP bus depot.

Talking about the construction challenges, the official said the site is situated close to Yamuna floodplains, and therefore, flooding due to high groundwater table is common. He added that there is an active railway line over the underpass because of which majority of work could only be done during night.

“As many as 150 pumps have been installed for removing water at the site. These pumps have been operational over the last one year. As soon as we stop these pumps, the water level rises and the soil loosens disturbing the alignment concrete boxes,” an engineer working on the site explained. PWD is using the box-pushing technique which allows giant cement boxes to be placed under the earth creating a tunnel.

The engineer explained that the concrete box in this case weighs around 1400 tons and the pushing also leads to large scale vibrations. “The second challenge in the project is that it is situated right under an active railway track. We only get a night slot between 1am and 7am during which trains are diverted and the box pushing is carried out but the vibrations leads to soil displacement and we spend 1-2 hours of the block period in measurements and restoration of track alignment so that the railway tracks can be checked and handed back in exact same situation,” the second engineer explained.

The Pragati Maidan complex is expected to be at the centre stage of the G-20 summit related meetings. At the time of the inauguration of the project in June, the ITPO, the agency overseeing the project, had said the underpass will be opened to traffic in “four to six 6 weeks”.

The central government-funded corridor is being built at a cost of ₹920 crore and it is aimed at providing seamless access to the new world-class exhibition and convention center being developed at Pragati Maidan while reducing load on the arterial roads around the project.

A co-ordination meeting between PWD and the Northern railways was chaired by LG VK Saxena in December last year to increase the block period time window. An official from the northern railways said that the traffic blocks for box pushing below the running railway lines were being provided regularly earlier too - by blocking both up and down lines and regulating train movement.

“The box pushing was not done for a brief period in between. After the coordination meeting between Railways and PWD. Railway has increased block duration by around 50% and these longer duration blocks are being provided everyday regularly,” the railways official added.

Rajender Singh, a regular commuter on the stretch said that the Bhairon Marg witnesses massive traffic jams in evening peak hours whenever there an event at Pragati Maidan. “The whole purpose of the project was to decongest the area but traffic jams during the exhibitions show that it has not been achieved. People are still forced to spend 30-35 minutes stuck in jam. hopefully the situation will improve with the opening of the new underpass,” he added.

Rakesh Kanchan another commuter said that the snarls on this corridor have increased due to closure of Ashram flyover. “If the underpass is completed on time, the traffic volume can be divided between main Pragati Maidan tunnel and Bhairon Marg reducing the waiting time on both ends,” he added.