Rabale Railway Station Pride of Navi Mumbai

Tekla Structures 3D BIM Technology made it possible to model and detail the complex structure of Rebail Railway Station at Navi Mumbai with accuracy and simplicity

Rabale railway station located in the planned city of Navi Mumbai, is an extension to the Mumbai Suburban Rail Network. This new project line was proposed to offer connectivity between Thane and Navi Mumbai. It covers an area of 18.5 kilometres between Thane and Vashi (Navi Mumbai). Rabale Station is a cutting edge unique master-piece of architectural design. The station does not ornate Victorian arches or cobble-stone pathways; its futuristic design, form, and use of materials are enough to turn heads and make one pause in wonder. Tekla Structures 3D BIM technology was used by Techflow Engineers to model and detail such complex structures.

Technical Features

Rabale Railway Station uses a combination of structural steel and acrylic sheets with specially designed joints between the materials to create the structure for the enclosure. The structure is made up of plate fabrication. The station uses daylight as the primarysource of lighting. The size and triangular-shape angles of skylight trusses play a vital role in the roof framing, which brings sunlight down to the central part of the platform throughout the day.

Trusses: Instead of putting trusses perpendicular to the tracks, they are running parallel to the platform. This made the architect to take long span trusses which avoid conjunction on platform for passengers. These trusses are running over three supports, which are 30 metres apart. The bottom of the truss is located 17 metres from the ground.

The triangular shape of the truss comprises bottom and top chord. The bottom chord of SHS 200x200x8 at 3.6 metres apart. The bottom chord is placed with face inclined. The top chord of the truss is a pipe with diameter 324x8 at height of 2.4 metres from the bottom chord. The diagonal members of SHS 100x100x6.3 run between both the chords.

This forms an irregular cutting edge. While detailing the part of each diagonal member, Techflow had to plot it on a graph sothat contractor can make a template from it. This could not be possible without Tekla Structures, says Techflow representative.

Columns: The unique 'X' shape columns add an aesthetic look to the structure, but this makes connections unconventional. These columns are made up of plate fabricated sections due to non availability of standard rolled section.

Canopy: Two plate fabricated canopies at entrance are made with the help of beams and girders. These are perpendicular to longitudinal trusses. Bottom chord of the canopy modeled with big plate girders in triangular shape. At junction HSS sections and plates connecting four rafters both top & bottom chords at canopy along the ridge.

Due to multiple members connected at one point in this structure, we typically detailed the connections as one assembly. This is possible only in Tekla Structures, says Techflow.

About Techflow

Techflow, an ISO 9001-2000 certified company, is a major player in the structural steel detailing business in India and a local pioneer of utilizing advanced trade technology in engineering project execution. Techflow headquarters in Mumbai has expanded its presence to the USA and Canada by opening new offices. Founded in 1995, Techflow has become a leading global player in structural engineering consultancy within the 12 years of its operation. Techflow has 100 licenses of Tekla Structures software and is open to enquiries of any size of projects.

Tekla Structures

By enabling the creation of the most accurately detailed and data-rich structural models, Tekla provides the building and construction industry the best constructability on the market. Tekla Structures is premium-brand building information modeling (BIM) software that streamlines the delivery process of design, detailing, fabrication, and construction organizations. Its abilityto process extensive amounts of data enables the creation of accurately detailed and highly constructable 3D and 4D models that apply to every stage of design and construction and represent the "as-built" condition of a building. Tekla Structures effectively integrates into any best-of-breed software driven collaborative workflow, which is the key to minimizing errors and maximizing efficiency, resulting in high profitability and on-time project completion. Tekla Structures encompasses specialized configurations for structural engineers, steel detailers and fabricators, precast concrete detailers and manufacturers, as well as for construction management.