• Publish Date
  05.05.2020
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Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu visited Eminonu - Alibeykoy Tram Line construction site…

Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Ekrem Imamoglu investigated Balat construction site of Alibeykoy - Eminonu Tram Line, which is under construction. Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said that 1.3-kilometre section got broken due to the ground crash and emphasised that works are carried out day and night so the line will be operational in December.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu investigated Balat construction site of Alibeykoy-Eminonu Tram Line along with IMM Head of Rail Systems Department Pelin Alpkokin and Metro Istanbul General Manager Ozgur Soy.
Head of IMM Rail Systems Department Pelin Alpkokin explained Mayor Imamoglu on the line how the operations are carried out. Alpkokin said, “It was actually a finished project. However, we started rebuilding here. Between about 20 and 60 meters, approximately 250 piles of 3 different varieties of different lengths will be driven. We want to finish the construction of the superstructure with the piles until the end of the year. For the moment, we have a target to open Cibali - Alibeykoy section in December 2020”.

Alpkokin: “Rails are laid directly over the filling area”
As of the structure of the Golden Horn, Alpkokin stated that the filling area consists of very troubled clay at the bottom of the sea and the rock called the Thrace formation and gave the following information for the piling operations:
“In this region, we go down to the rock. Nothing was poured directly above the embankment area in the past and rails were laid. There were 53-milimeter subsidence before the train even passed. It is not homogeneous and each plaque subsidence differently by itself. This ground settles here even if you do not do anything. The floor is troubled. There were different methods but we applied the surest method of descending to the rock. Approximately 6 km of the 8.8 km line will be a piled system. We also follow the 2.8 km section outside the beach. I was here when it was broken. Believe me I am very sorry but there is nothing to do. ”

Mayor Imamoglu: “We are struggling to open it by the end of the year”
After making an evaluation after Alpkokin’s brief presentation, Mayor Imamoglu said, “There was an operation on filling the ground -as a result of the researches and reports of expert teachers- due to the subsidence on the ground although there was no tram operating on the ground. We are working day and night on this line until the end of the year. We had to break a 1.3 kilometre part here by necessity. We are in an effort to correct such a mistake. This process will continue until the end of August. Preparations at other points continue. I hope that at the end of December, we are struggling to have this line ready and have a tram running from Cibali to Alibeykoy. Nevertheless, at 1.3 kilometres, we had to do the crushing process and make such a pile process, in the place of the rails we saw last time. All of our friends are working day and night here under the leadership of Ms. Pelin”. Mayor Imamoglu watched piling operations on site.

The project was halted because of the financing problem...
In the new period, the construction process is accelerated by resolving financing problems in Eminonu-Alibeykoy Tram Line; the construction works of the project started by IMM Rail System Department in 2016 and later came to a halt. However, an important technical problem was encountered in the construction of the line. It was determined that 1.3 km of the rail system completed in October 2018 experienced vertical ground subsidence, collapse and sliding in the ground areas below the current foundation and rail level, which do not sit on a pile system that would hinder the tram operation.
The ground of the Golden Horn was not taken into account
IMM engineers and expert academics assigned by Sakarya University carry out measurements and examinations in the field. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that the critical ground conditions specific to the Golden Horn were not taken into consideration at the design stage of the tramline superstructure, the ground survey and the field inspection were not sufficiently done at the project stage. It was seen that the irregular ground motion that has been going on for 1.5 years restricted the problem to be solved with additional measures and that the tram operation has great risks for operational safety. Because of the technical evaluations, it was predicted that ground motion would increase over time. For this reason, it was determined that breaking down the 1.3 km basic part of the line, which does not sit on the pile system, would be the most suitable solution. In this context, tram superstructure rail removal and reinforced concrete crushing works have started between Balat-Ayvansaray, which was completed in 2018.

It will be integrated with four lines…
The line starts from Eminonu region and progresses along the Golden Horn coast and reaches Alibeykoy Coach Station at the centre of Alibeykoy. Integration will be available with T1 Bagcilar-Kabatas Tram Line and sea piers at Eminonu station, M2 Yenikapı-Hacıosman metro line at Kucukpazar Station, TF2 Eyup-Piyer Loti Cable Car Line at Eyüp Cable Car Station and M7 Kabatas-Mahmutbey-Esenyurt Metro Line at Alibeykoy station.

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