Dwarka Expressway, India's first elevated highway, inaugurated by PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Haryana section of the much-awaited Dwarka Expressway in Gurugram on Monday. The eight-lane high-speed expressway is India's first elevated highway, and is expected to help improve traffic flow and ease congestion between Delhi and Gurugram.
The Haryana section includes two packages -- from the Delhi-Haryana border to Basai ROB (10.2 km) and from Basai ROB to Kherki Daula (Cloverleaf Interchange) (8.7 km).
The 19-km-long section has been built at a cost of around Rs 4,100 crore.
FEATURES OF THE DWARKA EXPRESSWAY
The expressway is the country’s first elevated urban expressway and the first single-pillar flyover with eight lanes. The entire stretch is being built at a cost of about Rs 9,000 crore.
About 19 kilometres of the expressway stretch fall in Haryana while the remaining 10 kilometres are in Delhi.
The high-speed expressway begins from Shiv-Murti on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway, and ends near the Kherki Daula Toll Plaza, passing through Dwarka Sector 21 in Delhi, Gurugram border, and Basai.
It will have four multi-level interchanges, such as tunnels or underpasses, an at-grade road section, an elevated flyover, and a flyover above flyover.
The 9-kilometre-long, 34-metre-wide elevated road of eight lanes on a single pillar is the first of its kind in the country.
The stretch also consists of the longest (3.6 kilometres) and widest (eight-lane) urban road tunnel in India.
Once completed, it will also provide direct access to the upcoming India International Convention Centre (IICC) in Dwarka Sector 25 in Delhi.
The expressway will be an alternate connection to the Indira Gandhi International Airport through a shallow tunnel.
It connects Dwarka Sectors – 88, 83, 84, 99, 113 with Sector-21 along with the proposed Global City in Gurugram district.
The expressway has sophisticated safety mechanisms, and toll collection will be completely automated, and the entire project will be equipped with an Efficient Transport System (ITS).
The construction has been scheduled in four stages. First, in the Delhi region from Shiv Murti in Mahipalpur to Bijwasan (5.9 km), second from Bijwasan ROB to Delhi-Haryana border in Gurugram (4.2 km), third in the Haryana region from Delhi-Haryana border to Basai ROB (10.2 km), and fourth from Basai ROB to Kherki Daula (Cloverleaf Interchange) (8.7 km).
For the total construction, it is estimated to consume 2 lakh MT of steel (30 times the steel used in the Eiffel Tower) and 20 lakh cubic metres of concrete (6 times the concrete used in the Burj Khalifa).
