Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Stn., Vidhana Soudha, is an underground metro station on the East-West corridor of the Purple Line of Namma Metro. It is situated beneath B.R. Ambedkar Road, between

Vidhana Soudha Vidhana Soudha () in Bangalore, India, is the seat of the state legislature of Karnataka. It is constructed in a style described as '' Neo-Dravidian'', and incorporates elements of various Dravidian styles. Construction was started in 1952 ...

and

Attara Kacheri Attara Kacheri in Bangalore, India is the seat of the principal bench of the Karnataka High Court, the highest judicial authority in the state of Karnataka. It is a neoclassical red-painted stone and brick building in Cubbon Park, located on ...

, which respectively house the

Karnataka Legislature The Karnataka Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Karnataka. The Legislature is composed of: *the Karnataka Legislative Council, the upper house, *the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the lower house, and *the Gove ...

and High Court in

Bangalore, India Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. The station was opened to the public on 30 April 2016.

History

Construction

The Dr. B.R. Ambedkar station at Vidhana Soudha, like other underground stations on the Purple Line, was constructed using the

cut-and-cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

method. The contract for the station's construction was awarded to the CEC-Soma-CICI Joint Venture, with

RITES Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, abbreviated as RITES Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India. It is an engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field ...

serving as the lead consultant. Construction of the station required a total work area that was about 320 m long and 48 metres wide. A total area of 133,000 sq m (about 275 metres long and 27 metres wide) up to a depth of 18 metres had to be excavated to construct the station. The excavated soil could not be utilized in the construction process as it was mostly composed of rocky material. Instead, some of the fine quality soil obtained from the excavation at the Cubbon Park metro station, which had been stored on BRV Parade Grounds, was utilised. Fine soil was also obtained from other sources. The sand and smooth rock obtained from building tunnels was also used. The station box is 13 metres long and 24 metres wide, and has no pillars. The design without pillars was chosen to enable free movement of commuters without obstruction, and for aesthetic reasons. In order to achieve the column-less design, the station box was constructed with strong concrete reinforcement. Its walls have a thickness of 1 metre, the concourse slab 0.75 metres thick, and the roof slab has thickness of 1.4 metres. The thick roof slab is designed bear the load of both the station box, and the soil above it. The roof of the station is located at a depth of 4 metres below ground level. To ensure uniformity in the construction of the walls, a specially fabricated steel gantry (10 m in width and 6 m in height) was used. The entire station box is covered with 3 mm thick bituminous membrane, a waterproofing agent, to prevent surface water from leaking into the station. After the station box was constructed, it was covered with up to 4 metres of good quality red soil. The rest of the excavated site was then refilled. After construction completed, the area was restored to its previous state by re-opening the 2-lane Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Road and the lawns in front of the Vidhana Soudha and Karnataka High Court. On 14 April 2016, the 125th birth anniversary of the jurist and social reformer

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

, it was announced that the Vidhana Soudha metro station would be named after him.

Station layout

Entry/Exits

There are 6 Entry/Exit points – A, B, C, D, E and F. Commuters can use either of the points for their travel. * Entry/Exit point A: Towards Vidhana Soudha side or towards Indian Express (Bangalore
Exit A Maps Street view
* Entry/Exit point B: Towards High Court of Karnataka side * Entry/Exit point C: Towards High Court of Karnataka sid
Exit B/C Maps Street view
* Entry/Exit point D: Towards Vidhana Soudha side or towards Reserve Bank of India (Bangalore) or towards Cubbon Park sid
Exit D Maps Street view
* Entry/Exit points E and F: Towards Vikasa Soudha sid
Exit E Maps Street view

References

External links