Bullet Train Project: NHSRCL awards last civil package in Maharashtra

New Delhi: The National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), which is undertking Mumbai-Ahemadabad Bullet Train Project, on Friday said that it has awarded last civil package (C3) having 135 km of Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR alignment including seven tunnels and longest bridge of 2 km over Vaitarna river in the state of Maharashtra.

With this, all three civil packages of Maharashtra portion: construction of Mumbai (BKC) HSR station (C1), 21 km of tunnel including 7 km undersea tunnel (C 2) and 135 km of alignment (C3), of MAHSR corridor, have been awarded.

"This also marks the award of all the 11 civil packages of 508 km long MAHSR corridor, comprising 465 km long viaducts, 12 HSR stations, 3 rolling stock depots, 28 steel bridges comprising 10 km of viaduct, 24 river bridges, 9 tunnels including 7 km long India’s first undersea tunnel," it added.

The MAHSR corridor is divided into 28 contract packages, out which 11 are civil packages, which were awarded in a span of 33 months. The first civil contract for the construction of 237 km viaducts including 4 HSR stations (Vapi, Bilimora, Surat & Bharuch) and Surat rolling stock depot in the state of Gujarat was awarded on October 28, 2020. This was the largest civil contract awarded in India. And the last civil contract of 135 km viaduct with 3 HSR stations (Thane, Virar and Boisar) in the state of Maharashtra was awarded on July 19.

To expedite the construction of viaducts, for the first time in India, full span girders of 40-m length weighting 970 ton have been launched through one of a kind full span launching equipment set: straddle carrier, bridge gantry, girder transporter and girder launcher, which are designed and manufactured in India. This technology is about 10 times faster than the conventional segment launching technology and has provided a new dimension to the construction industry.

This mega infrastructure project is expected to consume 1.6 crore Cum of cement and 17 lakh MT of steel and act as a catalyst to give the cement and steel industries a boost.

The tenders for track works for the complete MAHSR section in Gujarat (i.e. 352 km out of total 508 km) have also been awarded. The training of Indian Engineers and Work Leaders for High-Speed Rail Track system for MAHSR corridor has already started.

As per the company, about 1000 engineers/work leaders/technicians are planned to be trained in the specially created facility at Surat Depot. Around 20 Japanese experts will impart intensive training to the Indian engineers, supervisors & technicians and certify their skills.

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