Delhi-Meerut RRTS TBM Sudarshan 4.1 Records 2nd Breakthrough at Khichripur

Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. Ltd. (STEC) today celebrated tunnel boring machine Sudarshan 4.1’s second tunnel breakthrough at Khichripur Shaft for the 82.15 km Delhi – Meerut RRTS project.

This was Sudarshan 4.1’s final breakthrough and STEC’s fifth of eight tunnel breakthroughs planned for this semi high-speed rail project’s 5.6 km underground Package 4 (Sahibabad Ramp – Ashok Nagar Ramp).

This 7.5m diameter Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machine’s parts had arrived at Anand Vihar RRTS Station from China in January 2022.

In February, it was commissioned to build the 2.82 km down-line tunnel from Anand Vihar’s Southern Launch Shaft (chainage 12125.29) towards Khichripur TBM Retrieval Shaft (chainage 9297.685) located just north of Ashok Nagar DN Ramp. Along the way, it recorded its first breakthrough at a ventilation shaft in October 2022.

STEC was awarded a contentious contract for the project’s 5.6 km Package 4 by National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) in December 2020 to build four tunnels between New Ashok Nagar DN Ramp – Anand Vihar – Sahibabad UP Ramp.

With this development, Sudarshan 4.1’s job is done! It’s become the 2nd of 7 machines, after Afcons’ TBM S90 on Package 8 in Meerut, to complete all of its tunneling assignments.

Per NCRTC’s press release, Sudarshan 4.2 working on the parallel tunnel has completed roughly 2.5 kms of tunneling from Anand Vihar to Khichripur. North of Anand Vihar, STEC’s Sudarshan 4.3 and Sudarshan 4.4 have completed more than 1.5 km and 1.0 km respectively out of 2 kms towards Sahibabad UP Ramp.

For more updates, check out the RRTS section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? Get early-access to updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG