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Mangroves on the eastern shore of Thane Creek.
High-speed railTunnels

Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail

India's first high-speed rail corridor, including the country's first undersea rail tunnel beneath Thane Creek.

Maharashtra & Gujarat Feasibility & DPR

Photo: Rehman Abubakr · CC BY-SA 4.0

Prior-role experience. The projects and credentials presented represent the professional experience of Devstrat's leadership in previous roles. They are not represented as projects executed by Devstrat Private Limited.

Overview

The Mumbai–Ahmedabad corridor is India's first high-speed rail line. At its Mumbai end, a ~21 km tunnel runs from Bandra Kurla Complex to Shilphata, including about 7 km beneath Thane Creek — India's first undersea rail tunnel.

Prof. (Dr.) H. R. Yadav worked on the corridor's feasibility study and Detailed Project Report, including the tunnel beneath Thane Creek, during his time with RVNL.

Engineering challenges

  • Tunnelling beneath a tidal creek
  • Very large-diameter TBM drives in mixed ground
  • Transition from TBM to NATM towards the Shilphata portal

Photo gallery

Mangroves on the eastern shore of Thane Creek.
Mangroves on the eastern shore of Thane Creek.Photo: Rehman Abubakr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Thane Creek seen from the Airoli–Mulund bridge.
Thane Creek seen from the Airoli–Mulund bridge.Photo: Kshailesh04 at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Photos show Thane Creek, the setting of the undersea tunnel section.

Photos are openly licensed images from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licence shown with each photo. They are not Devstrat's own photographs. All photo credits

Technical case study

Tunnel alignment · schematic, not to scale Schematic of the BKC to Shilphata tunnel: about 16 km by TBM from BKC to Sawli with about 7 km beneath Thane Creek, then about 5 km by NATM to the Shilphata portal. Thane Creek · ~7 km undersea BKCUnderground station VikhroliShaft Sawli, GhansoliShaft ShilphataTunnel portal TBM · ~16 kmNATM · ~5 km
~21 kmTunnel sectionBKC to Shilphata, Maharashtra
~7 kmUndersea stretchBeneath Thane Creek
~16 kmTBM sectionBKC to Sawli (Ghansoli)
~5 kmNATM sectionTowards the Shilphata portal
13.6 mTBM cutterheadLargest TBMs for rail tunnelling in India (per NHSRCL)
Ø 13.1 mCross-sectionSingle tube carrying up and down tracks
25–65 mTunnel depthDeepest point ~114 m below Parsik Hill

Technical data: NHSRCL press releases.

Related experience

Viewers' gallery at Rajiv Chowk, an underground interchange on the Yellow Line (Line 2). MetroTunnels

Delhi Metro Phase I, Line 2 (underground)

  • ~11 km · Underground length
  • 10 · Underground stations, plus depot
  • 8–9 months · Commissioned ahead of schedule
RoleConcept to commissioning View project Airport Express train on the elevated section above a Delhi road. MetroTunnels

Delhi Airport Express Line

  • ~11 km · Bored, NATM and cut-and-cover tunnels
  • 4 · Underground stations
  • ₹1,480 Cr+ · Underground works supervised
RoleChief Resident Engineer View project Namo Bharat train at Meerut South RRTS station. RRTS

Delhi–Alwar & Delhi–Panipat RRTS

  • ~107 km · Delhi–Alwar corridor
  • ~103 km · Delhi–Panipat corridor
  • 31 · Stations, 8 underground
RoleTechnical Head – Planning, Design & Execution View project

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