Pune Metro’s TBM S79 Records Breakthrough at Civil Court Station

Moments ago – tunnel boring machine (TBM) S79, nicknamed Mula, operated by the Gülermak – Tata Projects Limited JV made a breakthrough at the underground Civil Court Station on Pune Metro’s 16.589 km Line-1 (Purple Line). 

This was S79’s second (and penultimate) breakthrough, and the fourth breakthrough for Gulermak – TPL JV’s 3.78 km Package UGC-01 as well as the 6.52 km underground section of the 31.254 km Phase 1 project.

This Ø6.52m 100m long Terratec earth pressure balance machine was first commissioned from the Range Hills Ramp on January 5, 2020 to build a short 180 meter stretch of the down-line tunnel to a shaft at the College of Agriculture. After recording a breakthrough there in January-end, the TBM was then dragged across the 25 x 25 meter shaft built by J Kumar Infraprojects under a separate contract.

For its current assignment that ended today – the machine was re-commissioned from the College of Agriculture Shaft in February towards Civil Court Station, through the station box of Shivaji Nagar Station, to build the 1438 meter down-line tunnel.

Like its sister machine TBM S78, this feat by S79 was also accomplished at the northern-end of a 155 meter scissor crossover, built by the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).

Meanwhile, the city’s third TBM (S81) continues to sit at the Swargate Station site and is expected to be launched northwards in February 2021 towards Mandai Station. Some parts of it, covered in a red tarp, are visible in the top-left corner below:

For more updates, check out the Pune section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG