IGATPURI
(NASHIK): Ahead of Engineers’ Day, on Tuesday, a workforce of 1,500 workers, led by over 150 engineers, added yet another feather in Maharashtra’s cap by completing the end-to-end connectivity of India’s widest and fourth longest tunnel at
Kasara Ghat near Igatpuri
on the
Nashik
highway in a record two years.
In photos: Historic twin tunnels near Igatpuri on Mumbai-Nagpur expressway
The daylighting of the 8km twin tunnels, each 17.5m-wide, will help expedite completion of the 700km Mumbai-Nagpur
Super Communication Expressway
that aims to reduce travel time between the two cities to 8-9 hours from 14-15 now. Even the fastest train on the route takes 11 hours. Once operational, the Rs 2,745-crore twin-tunnel project—called Package 14 that connects Tarangpada village in Nashik district and Vashala village in Thane district—will cut travel time through Kasara Ghat to five minutes from 30-35 minutes.
In photos: Historic twin tunnels near Igatpuri on Mumbai-Nagpur expressway
“Never in history, such a wide tunnel with 8km length has been completed in two years,” said MSRDC joint MD and PWD secretary Anil Kumar Gaikwad. Balance works include road laying and mechanical, electrical and plumbing works.
The designed driving speed of the tunnel is 120km/hour and covers the gradient of 160m from near the hilltop close to Igatpuri to downhills near Vashala through the valley, said S G Paretkar, director and business unit head (hydro & underground works) for Afcons Infrastructure, which helmed the construction.
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