Soil testing announced for 31km metro corridor to Hyderabad airport

HAML chairman and managing director N V S Reddy said that soil testing would be done over the next two months for 100 pillar locations between Ikea at Raidurg and the international airport at Shamshabad. “After fixing the alignment and completion of peg marking for the Airport Metro project, soil testing has been commenced for determining the soil bearing capacity,” Reddy said in a statement.

A deadline of three years is set for the completion of the project and works are being taken up on a war footing. Of the total 31km distance, 27.5 km is going to be an elevated metro just like the rest of the metro network the city, 1 km on the ground and a 2.5km distance in the airport area will be underground.

Soil samples will be collected through boreholes up to a depth of 40ft from the road surface at each of the identified locations. Through both in-situ tests and laboratory tests of samples, the soil-bearing capacity needs to be determined before finalising the exact locations for the pillars. Detailed soil investigation is necessary for the design of foundations.

Reddy said the results would also “determine other aspects like the type of foundation i.e., open foundation or pile foundation, required depth of the foundation, allowable bearing pressure etc”. “These results will also guide the bidders to assess their competitive rates” as they would give a fair idea about the soil conditions, he added.

As the soil testing exercise is being taken up over the next two months by the engineering wing, the preparation of tender invitations and other pre-construction activities are progressing parallelly, he said. The HAML, he said, is taking all precautions including proper barricading of the soil investigation locations, information about the presence of underground utilities, traffic management etc, with the government departments concerned and traffic police.

#Telangana govt announces fully state-owned Airport Express Metro corridor (31km) from Raidurg station to #RGIA via Biodiversity Jn, Kajaguda, Nanakramguda Jn & ORR at a cost of 6,250 cr, to be completed in 3 years. CM #KCR to lay foundation on Dec 9. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/EPLX0YGund

— Rahul V Pisharody (@rahulvpisharody) November 27, 2022

The HAML is a joint venture between the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority and the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and the project is fully funded by the state government.

The last station on the blue line of the 69km HMRL, a project under a public-private partnership, is at Mindspace Junction. The officials are looking at different design options for a new integrated Raidurg station at Mindspace Junction and the new Airport Metro station from the point of view of passenger convenience.

As part of the HMRL’s phase 2, the government has urged the Centre to grant in-principle approval for the Miyapur and BHEL to Lakdikapul corridor (26 km) and a connection between Nagole and LB Nagar (5 km), costing Rs 8,453 crore as a jointly owned project of the Centre and the state government with external financial assistance.