The tunnelling work in East-West Metro Corridor with the breakthrough of "Urvi" at Kolkata's Bowbazzar has been completed by Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) on May 15, informed the Railways Ministry.
With this breakthrough, the entire TBM tunnelling for the Kolkata East-West Metro Project is completed.
According to the ministry, the 800 meters challenging tunnel drive has been completed successfully following COVID-19 protocol.
"The stretch was difficult for tunnelling work as it had century-old buildings," the ministry said.
Earlier in the day, Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal tweeted about the achievement of the Railways and said that the extension will reduce the travel time of passengers.
"Despite COVID-19 challenges, Railways achieved a major milestone with the completion of 800m tunnelling in East-West Kolkata Metro Corridor. This will facilitate extension from Phoolbagan to Howrah Maidan, reduce travel time and enhance connectivity for all passengers," he tweeted.
The ministry also informed that the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) 'Urvi' which had earlier completed East Bound tunnel from Esplanade to Sealdah on October 9 last year and was relaunched from Sealdah after necessary refurbishment and inspection on January 9 to complete the balance 800 m tunnelling work in West Bound tunnel from Sealdah to Bowbazar.
This TBM has passed below Sealdah Flyover also for which vehicular movement on the flyover was closed for three days for safety reasons. After completion of this TBM drive, the tunnel boring machine 'Urvi' along with the other stalled TBM 'Chandi' will be retrieved from this retrieval shaft at Bowbazar.
Excavation of shaft after ensuring the water-tightness of the shaft and the affected tunnel and retrieval of the TBMs are intricate activities which have to be done safely and hence will take time. After completion of the entire excavation, both the TBMs will be retrieved in pieces from the shaft. The RCC flooring and roofing for the shaft area will be completed thereafter and the shaft top will be backfilled to prepare the ground for overground construction, the ministry said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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