Afcons Infrastructure Celebrates TBM S115 Breakthrough at Agra Metro

Afcons Infrastructure, in partnership with Sam India Consortium, recently celebrated a significant milestone in the Agra Metro Phase 1 project. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) S115 made a breakthrough at Raja Ki Mandi Station on the 14.25 km Line-1 (Sikandra – Taj East Gate).

Project Milestones:

• S115's Achievements: This marks S115’s second breakthrough and the fourth for the remaining portion of Agra Metro Line-1’s underground section, located outside the operational Priority Corridor between RBS Ramp and Mankameshwar Mandir Station. In total, this is the 12th breakthrough for the 7.93 km Package AGCC-02, which connects RBS Ramp to Taj Mahal Ramp.

• Machine History: The S115 machine, a refurbished Terratec Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) TBM, is the fourth TBM used by Afcons. It was commissioned in December 2023 to construct a 2.2 km tunnel for the up-line from RBS College Ramp towards Agra College Interchange Station.

Key Progress:

• First Drive: During its first drive, which concluded in April, S115 completed a 720-meter tunnel for the up-line from RBS Ramp to RBS College Station in just four months.
• Second Drive: Following this, the machine was relocated through the RBS College station box and relaunched at the end of May towards Raja Ki Mandi Station, successfully covering a distance of 684 meters in 68 days.

Contract Details:

• Award: In March 2022, the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) awarded the Afcons – Sam India Consortium the civil construction contract for underground Package AGCC-02, valued at Rs. 1819.79 crore.
• Scope: The contract, with a 48-month deadline, covers the section from chainage 3630.000 to 11564.485, consisting of twin tunnels connecting seven stations: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Jama Masjid, SN Medical College, Agra College, Raja Ki Mandi, and RBS College.

Images by Gaurav Chauhan

Machine Adaptation:

• Reconfiguration: The S115 machine has an interesting history, having previously been one of Afcons’ three TBMs (S88, S89, or S90) used to construct six tunnels on the 82 km Delhi – Meerut RRTS project’s Package 8 within Meerut city. For its deployment in the Agra Metro project, the machine's original cutterhead diameter of 7.51 meters was downsized and reconfigured to meet the specific tunnel requirements, with a new cutterhead attached, estimated to have a diameter of around 6.52 meters.

Future Plans:

• Next Drive: S115 will be moved through the Raja Ki Mandi station box and recommissioned towards Agra College Station for its final drive, which will cover approximately 535 meters.
• Remaining Breakthroughs: With 12 breakthroughs already completed, six more remain in the Phase 1 project: one at Raja Ki Mandi, two at Agra College, one at SN Medical College, and two at Mankameshwar (Jama Masjid).
• Upcoming Milestones: The next breakthrough is expected within the coming month, potentially by TBM Shivaji, which is excavating the parallel tunnel from RBS College to Raja Ki Mandi, or by TBM Ganga, which is working on the tunnel from Agra College to SN Medical College.