NEW DELHI: With a temporary concrete pile being driven into the ground near Samachar Apartments in East Delhi for verifying the soil testing report, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday began construction work on Phase-II of the Delhi Metro Rail project. The entire 5.2 km long stretch -- from Indraprastha to New Ashok Nagar -- which is an extension of Line 3 of Phase-I will be elevated. The corridor will be completed in 27 months well in time for Commonwealth Games 2010.

According to DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal, civil works on the corridor would be completed by August 2008, while the operations are expected to begin in June 2009. The contract was awarded to the DMRC on May 9, 2006. Earlier, DMRC had completed Phase-I of the project three years ahead of schedule.

The corridor will have four stations: Games Village, Mayur Vihar Phase-I, Mayur Vihar Phase-II (Extension) and New Ashok Nagar. While the Games Village station will be near Akshardham Temple, the Mayur Vihar Phase-I station will be in front of DDA Housing Apartments. The third station will be in front of Glaxo Appartments (near district centre) and the New Ashok Nagar station would be in front of East End Apartments. The design of the Games Village station would be different from the other three stations and a separate contract would be floated for the same.

Soil testing for the new corridor has already been completed and temporary piles will be driven into the ground on various locations in order to carry out the pile load tests.

Usually, concrete piles will take about 28 days to firm up after which the pile load tests would be conducted as per standard testing procedures. The tests will give an indication whether the pillars can endure the weight of the viaducts and the trains. Work on permanent pillars will start after the pile load tests are completed. Routine tests would be subsequently conducted to keep a tab on the quality of the piles.

The DMRC will use M-30 type of concrete on the piles and Grade-43 and Grade-53 types of cement in construction. Two tyre washing plants -- one at the depot and the other at construction site -- would be set up to ensure that trucks carrying mud and other material do not dirty the roads. Casting yard would be set up near the Yamuna depot, while testing laboratories would be put up on site. Camp for labourers would be set up near site with facilities such as school and dispensary.

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