Soil testing on, Aqua Line extn work to start soon
NOIDA: Paving way for the construction work on the proposed 14.95km long corridor between Aqua Line’s Noida Sector 51 Metro station and Knowledge Park 5 in Greater Noida, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation on Sunday said it has started the survey for testing soil and topography on the route.
Once operational, the corridor will take Metro connectivity deeper into pockets in Greater Noida West and Noida. The Metro line will pass through Greater Noida West (earlier known as Noida Extension), which houses many newly-developed housing complexes.
In December 2019, the Noida and Greater Noida authorities had said the two bodies will share the financial burden of the project that passes through areas in their jurisdiction.
The work on the Metro link is expected to start by April end, 2020, officials said.
“We have started the work of testing of geography, soil and topography on the planned 14.95km Metro route. The objective is to figure out things like how deep the pillars will be when the Metro route would be laid down. The geotechnical investigation will also help us know what lies beneath the Metro route which will be completely elevated,” executive director of the NMRC, PD Upadhyaya said.
The NMRC is expected to finish work on the geotechnical investigation by January 30, so that it can start issuing tenders to hire contractors for the project.
“This test will help us in identifying the sites, where pillars need to be built. We will get to know the exact points from where the sewer line, wires and other utilities pass through. Then we will identify the space where we need to start digging for the pillars. This survey will also get to know the number of pillars required to support the corridor” Upadhyaya said.
“We aim to hire a contractor in the next two-three months, so that the work on the project can start soon,” he said.
The Uttar Pradesh government had already approved the project and now awaits the green signal from the Union government. The project is estimated to cost around ₹2,682 crore will be completed in two phases.
The 9.15 km long first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by 2022.