L&T Lowers Patna Metro’s 3rd TBM at Gandhi Maidan Station

Larsen & Toubro on Wednesday lowered their 3rd of four tunnel boring machines at Gandhi Maidan for 30.91 km Patna Metro Phase 1 project’s 8 km underground Package PC-03 (Rajendra Nagar – Patna Junction Railway Station).

This 6.65m diameter EPB machine by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (CRCHI) had passed factory acceptance tests in the spring of 2023 and arrived in Patna in July.

Its serial number remains unconfirmed to me, but it’s supposed to be either DZ1169 or DZ1170. If someone associated with the project is aware, then leave a comment below.

The 450 MT machine was assembled as one-unit adjacent to the 52 foot deep launch shaft and lowered vertically into it as one-unit in 6 hours using a strand jack “mega lift” system.

This is similar to how L&T lowered the project’s first two machines, TBM Mahavir (DZ1090) and TBM Buddha (DZ1091), at Moin-ul-Haq Station earlier this year.

Per the tunneling plan, this machine and another 4th machine will first bore a 966m long tunnel from Gandhi Maidan Station towards Akashvani Station.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had awarded L&T with 14.05 km Line-2’s Package PC-03’s Rs. 1989 crore contract in December 2021 with a 42 month deadline.

PC-03 will connect a ramp near Rajendra Nagar with Patna Junction Railway Station through TBM bored twin tunnels and 6 underground stations at Akashvani (formerly Dak Bungalow), Gandhi Maidan, PMCH, Patna University, Moin Ul Haq Stadium and Rajendra Nagar.

Some snaps of the machine going down the 32m x 25m wide shaft:

In the coming days, the machine will be moved horizontally on its cradle and lined up to head-wall’s eye-seal. Tunneling work for its initial drive is expected to start in November.

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– TMRG