Tunnel boring machine (TBM) Melagiri has achieved breakthrough at Perambur South Shaft for package TU01 under the Chennai Metro Rail Phase II Project. It is the eighth breakthrough under the package. It was commissioned at Ayanavaram station and travelled for 861 metres till Perambur.
Package TU-01 involves construction of approximate 9 km long twin bored tunnels from TBM retrieval shaft near Venugopal Nagar metro station to Kellys metro station and construction of diaphragm walls of station box and entry/exit structures of Madhavaram Milk Colony, Murari Hospital, Ayanavaram and Purasaiwakkam High Road stations, including launching and retrieval shafts as required in the above metro stations. Tata Projects Limited was awarded the contract for the same in May 2021.
The project involves development of 118.9 km three metro corridors (Corridor III, IV and V) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of Rs 632.46 billion. It is mostly underground with an elevated section confined to a few short stretches and consists of 128 stations in total.