Over river, under streets: How NCRTC engineered 1-hour Delhi to Meerut ride | Noida News – The Times of India

Ghaziabad: When work on the Namo Bharat rapid rail began in June 2019, the ambition was clear: compress the daily sprawl of Delhi to Meerut into a hour-long ride. What followed was a seven-year construction marathon that pushed technical limits and cut through some of NCR’s densest urban terrain before finally stitching Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut into a seamless ride.“This project posed civil, engineering and logistical challenges we had never handled at this scale,” an official with the National Capital Region Transport Corporation said. “Unlike metro or Vande Bharat projects, this corridor had to be built almost entirely from scratch. Covid slowed work, but commissioning the full line on Feb 22 is a moment of great feat.”Among the most demanding feats was the Yamuna crossing—Delhi’s longest rail bridge. Stretching 1.3 km, the structure rests on 32 pillars and carries box-girder viaducts launched sequentially using heavy gantries. About 626 metres run directly over the river, with the rest extending across floodplains on either side.“Each pier, especially those placed midstream, tested our expertise to the limit,” the NCRTC official said. “Last 2-3 years’ monsoon and high water levels added another layer of difficulty.”Another hurdle was laying the foundation, complicated by a clay layer 10 to 15 metres below ground that slowed piling, an official said. Shifting sand required constant monitoring and on-the-fly adjustments to ensure stability.Work was also constrained by the Yamuna floodplains, where water well construction was possible for only about seven months a year, officials said. To manage these limits, engineers used Building Information Modelling to create a detailed 3D model of the bridge, helping spot problems early, improve coordination and streamline execution allowing the structure to be completed in just 2.5 years. Running parallel to the DND Flyway, the bridge connects the Namo Bharat stations at Sarai Kale Khan and New Ashok Nagar skimming past the Barapullah flyover and Ring Road before slipping into Sarai Kale Khan—a stretch that threads through some of Delhi’s busiest arteries.If the Yamuna bridge defines the corridor’s scale above ground, its underground works in Meerut underscore its precision below it. A 5-km subterranean section passes beneath the city’s tightly packed neighbourhoods, housing Meerut Central, Bhainsali and Begumpul station.Of these, Begumpul stands out—246 metres long, 24.5 metres wide and sunk roughly 22 metres below street level.“Meerut is a congested, old city. Working that deep while ensuring no structural damage to buildings above was a challenge we had to manage with absolute precision,” the official said.Located beneath a bustling market, Begumpul is expected to draw heavy footfall. It is also the corridor’s most significant interchange, offering both Namo Bharat and metro services on the same infrastructure, also a first in India.Meerut Central and Bhainsali, meanwhile, will serve exclusively as metro stations. The broader Meerut Metro network spans 23 km, with 18 km elevated and 5 km underground, across 13 stations. Only three are below ground, but their construction required more than 80,000 pre-cast tunnel segments to minimise vibration and protect surface structures to reduce collateral damage.On the priority section near Ghaziabad, engineers installed the corridor’s longest steel span, a 15-metre-wide structure weighing 3,200 tonnes, hoisted to a height of about 25 metres while the Delhi Metro’s Red Line continued to run beneath it near the tri-junction.