Major Engineering Challenges Encountered During Construction Stage A Case Study - North-South Corridor of Pune Metro Rail Project, Pune, Maharashtra

Pune Metro Project has been undertaken by MAHA Metro, as Special Purpose Vehicle of Government of India and Government of Maharashtra. Pune Metro is aimed to tackle growing traffic congestion and chaos from the increasing population and fast urbanization and provide comfortable and convenient commute in the city. It will facilitate many youths, students, professionals, etc. traveling to their destination. The constantly increasing urbanization of the metropolises requires more and more realization of a fast and efficient transportation network. Underground transport lines often constitute an ideal solution in terms of efficiency and low nuisance for the environment. In the process also to significantly reduce the travel time by 75%.

Metro rail will act as the back bone to the public transport system of the Smart City Project and strengthen on various parameters. Towards these two lines Line 1 (PCMC to Swargate) and Line 2 (Vanaz to Ramwadi) are proposed under the Pune metro project.

This project on the North South Corridor Line 1 (PCMC to Swargate) broadly comprises of Ramp, Cut & Cover tunnel, 5 UG Stations viz. Shivajinagar, Civil Court, Budhwarpeth, Mandai and Swargate and associated TBM/NATM tunnels between Agriculture College and Northern End of Swargate Station.

The technical advancements brought to the underground excavation methods allow the achievement of projects in difficult environmental conditions, especially in urban areas. All precautions taken at the time of construction, the loose rock condition, heavy seepage, ground vibration due to blast, face loss during TBM tunneling, shallow rock cover, occurs around the excavation area. These ground vibrations & face losses propagate to the surface and provoke serious disruption to the existing structures and hence, resulting in serious consequences in terms of delays, cost and public image. This paper covers the geological and geotechnical engineering challenges encountered along the underground section of Line-1 from agriculture college to swargate station in form of very old/ heritage building structures in the excavation influence zone, excavation through blasting in densely populated areas, piling work, TBM tunneling below Mutha river, Low rock cover zone tunneling & their remedial measures.