TECHBOX™ FOR RAILWAY UNDERPASS

ACC Limited.

September 2017

Terre Armée (Reinforced Earth India Pvt Ltd) + Aarvee Associates

The railway tracks under South East Central Railway is the life line for the ACC cement plant located at Jamul in the state of Chhattisgarh, India for the logistics of supply of raw materials and to dispatch of cement/clinkers by wagons. Vehicular movement along the road was interrupted frequently due to the existing railway level crossing inside the plant. This access road along the outer periphery of ACC Jamul cement plant is one of the important connecting road for ACC staff colony and other adjoining residential areas.

To eliminate the obstruction of vehicular movement due to railway crossing, it was necessary to construct an underpass or a railway over bridge (ROB). However, due to shortage of available space, the ROB option was dropped.

ACC Ltd. then consulted Terre Armée In India regarding a viable solution for the above scenario. To ensure uninterrupted movement of the wagons during construction of Railway Underpass, Terre Armée in India proposed precast box structure TechBox™ system. ACC Ltd awarded this job to Terre Armée in India for construction of one Railway Underpass using TechBox® Technology.

The approach Road towards ACC Colony is intersected by three Rail Tracks which is the lifeline for Plant Logistics for raw material and dispatch of cement. Frequent obstruction to vehicular movement along the above approach road due to movement of Railway Wagons was causing difficulty for the residents.

Construction of conventional underpass was also not feasible as it would have shut the wagons dispatch system during the long construction period. This would have affected the operation of the plant.

Terre Armée in India initiated the for construction of one Railway Underpass using TechBox® Technology. The key challenges were to minimize the shutdown period of Rail Tracks, which was is indispensable for the plant operations. The execution had to be done in two parts, keeping at least one track operational to support plant logistics.

Time allotted for two phases of installation and of Box Structure and restoration of railway movement on at least one rail track was only 17 days.

Terre Armée in India used the in-house technical know-how to custom-design the requisite cross-sections for this project. Based on the design, the moulds were customized to meet the design specifications.

The barrel length of the underpass is 26.5m and the internal dimension of the underpass is 6m wide x 3.5m high. There are 3 parallel railway tracks and Terre Armée in India proposed part construction, in which one track always remained live for handling of plant logistics. This is indispensable for the plant operations.

The pre-casting of box segments was completed in the designated casting yard close to the installation site and was installed at the desired location by cut ‘n’ cover method. Lifting System was adopted with a combination of Fabricated Spreader Beam and H T Freyssibars was extremely effective while handling pre-cast segments weighing 54.50 MT (including weight of lifting system). Installation of seven (7) units in the first phase was completed in 8 Hrs. Installation of ten (10) units in the second phase took 16 hrs even after hindrances due to constricted approach of crane.

The TechBox^® technology has been proved to be far superior to the conventional in-situ Underpasses. It reduced the shutdown period of rail tracks to a great extent.