A Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) deployed at the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro 3 corridor achieved a breakthrough on Wednesday, making it the second TBM to reach the milestone. The first breakthrough was achieved on September 24 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) Terminal 2 station.
The TBM, named Wainganga 2, tunneled from the launching shaft at Sariput Nagar, near Aarey Colony, to SEEPZ station. It was commissioned on August 23 and completed constructing a 569-metre-long tunnel using 405 RCC cement rings. The TBM tunneled 4.5 metres daily for 125 days and went under the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road. Ashwini Bhide, managing director of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), said “This is a second big milestone for the MMRC. We are delighted on completing another challenging achievement. The credit equally goes to the engineers and other stakeholders involved in the project.”
The first two breakthroughs are part of the Package 7 of the project, which runs from Marol Naka to SEEPZ via MIDC. The first breakthrough was also achieved by Wainganga 1, which was launched for Marol Naka. The package will provide crucial linkages to the other Metro corridors, the existing Mumbai Metro One at Marol Naka station and the upcoming Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli Metro 6 at Aarey station.
It will also provide rail connectivity to commercial hubs of SEEPZ and MIDC. The 4.16-km-long package is being executed by the consortium of Larsen & Toubro and the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company.
All 17 TBMs have been commissioned at 10 TBM shafts and tunneling for around 15 km of the 52.21 km has been completed. The first TBMs were lowered at Naya Nagar in Mahim, which are expected to achieve breakthrough in the first quarter of 2019 in Dadar.
