The Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) is a 135 km long, six-lane highway passing through the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
Part of the multi-crore project called ‘Peripheral Expressway’, the 270km long super ring road also consists of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (135 Km) named as Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP). The expressway is also known as the National Expressway II and designed to free Delhi roads of the huge volume of trucks and bus traffic that enter the city every day en route to other parts of the country.
This ambitious project is a part of the current government’s National Highway Development Project (NHDP)-Phase 4. The purpose of this highway is not only to strengthen the infrastructure set-up in the two states but also to relieve traffic congestion and prevent pollution causing commercial vehicles from entering Delhi.
Ramboll was awarded the contract for the detailed design for the construction of the six-lane expressway and for the rendering design of the Rail Over Bridge (ROB) which is one of the major structures on the highway. Our scope of work included pavement design based on mechanistic method, establishing design standards, typical cross sections and preparing plan profile for the highway stretch, preparing drawings “Good for Construction” and “As Built Drawings” after the completion of work.
Ramboll also carried out field investigations for the highways and bridge works as per the requirement of the EPC document and relevant codal guidelines. This included:
- Soil Pit Survey
- Borrow Area identification and testing of material and checking its suitability for embankment construction
- Aggregate quarry identification and testing along the project stretch
- Field drainage investigation for deciding the location of cross drainage structures
- Hydrological Survey of the whole project area
Innovative Solutions
An interchange has been achieved at Dasna Village. There were multiple site constraints and lack of right of ways (ROW) due to villages houses, schools, colleges, graveyards, etc. The Dasna Interchange has been designed by modifying the ROW without compromising the Codal design parameters by moving the entire six-lane crossroad NH-24 with modifying ramps by providing additional underpasses.
Canal Bridges
A cost-effective solution of integral bridges with monopiles was provided for all canal bridges having span varies from 15m to 25m with a wider deck width of 20.65m (each CW) and skew angle varies from 20 to 50 degrees.
Sustainable construction
In recent years, Delhi has seen a significant rise in air pollution. In a study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment in 2016, it was estimated that 30% of emissions from city vehicles was being contributed by trucks.
The inauguration of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway has had an immediate impact on the capital with more than 50,000 trucks being diverted to the expressway from the city border. The diversion of the high volume of vehicles will eventually lead to a significant drop in the air pollution levels in the city. Another unique feature of the expressway is that it has eight solar power plants with a capacity of 4MW each for lighting the underpasses and running the solar pumps for watering 250,000 trees planted along the route. Furthermore, rainwater harvesting facilities have been provided at 500-metre intervals along the expressway, in addition to drip irrigation facilities.
Ramboll was involved in the project in two parts which include the highway and a Rail over Bridge, which is one of the major structures on EPE. For both parts of the project, Ramboll applied its technical expertise to deliver innovative solutions to the client resulting in the project being delivered in record time.