By Ashley Karen
India’s NHSRCL (National High-Speed Rail Corporation) has signed a contract with Afcons Infrastructure for constructing a high-speed rail tunnel involving the country’s first undersea rail link.
Package MAHSR C-2 is part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor which covers the construction of a 21km tunnel between Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata in the state of Maharashtra, with a 7km undersea section at Thane Creek.
NHSRCL managing director, Shri Rajendra Prasad, noted: “Construction of the 21km of the tunnel is one of the most challenging contracts of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR corridor, which includes the construction of the country’s first twin-track undersea rail tunnel of 7km at Thane Creek. Three TBMs and NATM will be used for the construction of this tunnel”.
The tunnel will feature 39 equipment rooms at 37 locations and be a single tube accommodating twin tracks. It will drive almost 25-65m underground, three 13.1m diameter tunnel boring machines will excavate about 16km of the tunnel, and NATM will be used for the remaining 5km.
As reported, Afcons will construct shafts at Bandra-Kurla Complex (under package C1), Vikhroli, and Sawli at approximate depths of 36m, 56m and 39m respectively, to launch and retrieve the machines. An inclined shaft of 42m at Ghansoli and a tunnel portal at Shilphata will allow the use of NATM.
The Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR Bullet Train) scheme is a 508.17km line which is going to link Mumbai with Ahmedabad in Gujarat and will feature 12 stations.
