Initial construction work begins for phase II project of Chennai Metro at Poonamallee

Finally, initial construction work for phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail project has begun in Poonamallee.Sources said the work to do test piling has begun in Poonamallee on Wednesday; this is prepar

Finally, initial construction work for phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail project has begun in Poonamallee. Sources said the work to do test piling has begun in Poonamallee on Wednesday; this is preparatory work for building the viaduct in the elevated stretch from Poonamallee to Porur junction, which may be the first one to be opened in the 118.9 km phase II project of Chennai Metro Rail after four years. According to sources in Chennai Metro Rail, the test piling work is usually done to check the design and be sure of the pile capacity before doing the viaduct work. “It is usually done in one or two locations; the contractor waits for nearly one month after carrying out this work and if this test pile is satisfactory, then the piling work along the alignment of this stretch can start. After that, the piers construction too will follow. But commuters will be able to view the piers only after six months because it will take quite some time to achieve that level of progress, considering the pandemic restrictions and limited number of labourers available now,” a source said.