The East Coast Railway’s Waltair Division created a record in infrastructure construction by building a subway below railway tracks in record 4.5 hours, The News Minute has reported. The subway was constructed between the stations of Kottavalsa and Pendurti in Andhra Pradesh to eliminate a busy manned railway crossing named gate 484.
The construction of this subway was carried out about 45 days back and has now been thrown open to the public following the construction of access roads.
The significance of this achievement can be gauged by the fact that it takes about six to eight hours to construct a subway below two tracks, but in this case, a subway below four tracks was constructed in just 4.5 hours. The total length of the subway is estimated to be 38 metres and was constructed at a cost of Rs 2.6 crore.
Speed was necessary for the construction on the stretch of track, as it is known to be critical for the movement of coal, iron ore from Odisha and Chhattisgarh’s Talcher and NDMC respectively. Besides this, the railway lines are also used for the transportation of cargo from Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports.
As per the TNM report, the faster construction was achieved thanks to substantial planning and resource mobilisation. As per a railway press release quoted by the report, six excavators, 3 cranes, 4 hydra machines and 5 trippers were used. A total of 300 workers toiled to make the speedy construction possible.
A time lapsed video of the same was also created by the Indian Railways which was shared by TNM on YouTube:
As seen in the video and detailed in an IndiaToday report, the railway track was removed via cranes and excavators dug up the earth to create a path for the subway. The boxes and base plates too were shifted simultaneously.
Following this, a surface was prepared and pre-fabricated boxes and base slabs were placed. A total of 20 pre-fabricated boxes were used for the exercise which took about 4.5 hours.
The construction of the subway and a subsequent elimination of the railway crossing is expected to reduce railway accidents and also save time for crossing motorists.
