Tata’s Chennai Metro TBM S96 Arrives at Madhavaram

Tata Projects Ltd. (TPL)’s first tunnel boring machine, S96, arrived at Chennai’s Madhavaram neighborhood earlier this month to build Package TU01 of the 118.9 km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project.

This Ø6.61m Terratec earth pressure balance (EPB) machine had passed factory acceptance tests earlier this summer in China – see details and pictures.

In the Q4 2022, it will be deployed along with 6 other TBMs to construct approximately 9 km twin tunnels (total 18 km) on the new 45.813 km Line-3’s Venugopal Nagar – Kellys section.

TPL was awarded Phase 2’s Package TU-01 Rs. 1999 crore contract by CMRL in May 2021 with a 42 month deadline.

Scope of TU01: Construction of approximately 9 km twin bored tunnels (total = 18 km) from the TBM Retrieval Shaft near Venugopal Nagar (of Line-5) to Kellys Station, and the construction of diaphragm walls, entry/exit structures of Madhavaram Milk Colony Station, Murari Hospital Station, Ayanavaram Station and Purasaiwakkam High Road Station, including launching and retrieval shafts at the above stations.

Tata’s tunneling plan with 7 TBMs still remains unknown to me at this time. If someone reading this is aware, then leave a comment below or shoot me a message via the Contact page.

As shared earlier, the other 3 new machines in Terratec’s pipeline will likely be named S97, S98 and S99. I hear Tata plans to refurbish and deploy Terratec TBM S81 from Pune and another 2 Herrenknecht machines from Singapore.

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– TMRG