Infrastructure major Afcons achieved the fourth and final breakthrough of Maharashtra’s longest and widest road tunnels at the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg Package-14 on Tuesday.
The daylighting of both tunnels (LHS & RHS) is major progress and accomplishment towards construction and speedy completion of the expressway connecting Mumbai with Nagpur.
Describing the project milestone, Joint Managing Director, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Anil Kumar Gaikwad, said: “This is an extremely proud moment and a critical milestone that has been achieved by Afcons in PKG-14 which is the most challenging of all 16 packages in the entire project. The tunnelling has been done efficiently and proactively following the highest safety standards. We are extremely pleased that the tunnelling could be completed so swiftly without any lost time incident.”
Afcons has achieved a series of four breakthroughs in just under five months.
The first breakthrough was achieved in May this year, followed by the second and third in July and August respectively.
With the last breakthrough in September, end-to-end connectivity through both tunnels has now been achieved.
“It is a matter of pride for all of us at Afcons and MSRDC that all breakthroughs were achieved ahead of schedule. Balance work inside the tunnels after today will include final lining, road pavement works and tunnel mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works. As per present projections, the tunnels will be in final shape for hand over by June next year,” Afcons’ Project Manager Sekhar Das said.
Remarkably, all breakthroughs were achieved before time despite the Covid-19 pandemic and various associated restrictions and hindrances like shortage of manpower, disruptions in supply of material and explosives. Moreover, heavy and prolonged rainfall with Igatpuri being the state’s highest rainfall area made dewatering a herculean task inside the tunnels.
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