Over 23,000 tonnes of cement and more than 400 tonnes of steel have been used to construct one of India’s longest road tunnels between Igatpuri and Kasara under the Nagpur Mumbai Super Communication Expressway (NMSCE), also known as Samruddhi Mahamarg. The tunnel is in its final lap of completion.
The 7.7-km tunnel is the longest in Maharashtra and the fourth longest in the country. Its width, at 18 metres, is the most for any tunnel in India.
The tunnel will enable commuters to cross the Kasara ghat section in around 7-8 minutes without having to negotiate the over 15 hairpin curves that the present national highway has in that stretch. The current travel time in the ghat section is at least 30-35 minutes if there are no traffic snarls.
Over 44 lakh tonnes of rocks were excavated from the Sahyadri mountain range using the New Austrian Tunnel Method (NATM) – blasting of rocks followed by primary support to exposed rocks using state-of-the-art equipment – to make the tunnel. A ride inside revealed that the number of curves on the road has been reduced to a minimum. The tunnel is divided into two tubes – each having three lanes – for traffic to and from Nagpur and Mumbai.
