Afcons to deploy tunnel boring machines this fiscal

The engineering and construction division of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, announced that it will use about 20 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for underground metro projects this fiscal year as more Indian cities choose metro rail as a practical and sustainable solution to the country's traffic and vehicular pollution problems. The first undersea rail tunnel in India will be built by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) and Afcons Infrastructure as part of a 21-KM long tunnel for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The 7-km long underwater tunnel at Thane Creek will be 25 to 65 metres below the surface of the ocean. The New Austrian Tunnelling Methodology (NATM) will be used to build five kilometres of the tunnel and TBMs will be used to complete the other sixteen kilometres.