5 Bidders for Gaimukh – Fountain Hotel Tunnel & Elevated Road in Thane
Five firms on Wednesday submitted bids for the civil construction of a 5.5 km underground road tunnel connecting Gaimukh (Thane) and Fountain Hotel Junction (Bhayandar) in northern Mumbai.
This underground tunnel is one of two infrastructure components being built on a 15.5 km stretch to decongest Ghodbunder Road (MH SH 42) between Gaimukh and Bhayandar. The other component involves construction of a roughly 10 km elevated road from Fountain Hotel Junction to Bhayandar.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had invited bids for the tunnel’s construction July 2024 with a construction period of 54 months (including environmental, other clearances, and monsoon period) and 24 month defect liability period (DLP).
Details on the tunnel’s specifications (lanes, internal diameter) remain a little sketchy at this time as the tender notice didn’t have much to offer, but I imagine the tunnel will be built by deploying at least one mega tunnel boring machine (TBM).
The 15.5 km entire road project was approved in July 2024 with an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore by Maharashtra’s Chief Minister during MMRDA’s executive meeting.
Bidders for Both Contracts:
- Afcons Infrastructure Ltd.
- Larsen and Toubro Ltd. (L&T)
- Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. (MEIL)
- Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. (NECL)
- Rithwik Projects Private Ltd. (RPPL)
Tunnel’s Brief Scope: Design and construction of underground road tunnel from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction on Thane Ghodbunder road
Elevated Road’s Brief Scope: Design and Construction of Elevated road from Fountain Hotel Junction at Thane Ghodbunder road to Bhayander
All 10 bids have now been sent for technical evaluation which can take a couple months to complete. When that is done, the financial bids of the technically qualified bidders will be opened to reveal who’s the lowest bidder and most likely contractor for each package.
As shared in the past – Ghodbunder Road is extremely narrow, winding and busy with traffic – especially with trucks at night – so this project is much needed. I do believe there was an opportunity for MMRDA to incorporate Mumbai Metro’s 9.2 km Line-10 between Gaimukh – Shivaji Chowk (part of Green Line) into its structure as it’s currently planned to follow the existing winding roadway.
When built, this tunnel will be connected to the upcoming 13.2 km Thane Coastal Road project which will have its northern terminal at Gaimukh. And just north of it, a new Gaimukh – Payegaon Creek Bridge will be built to disperse traffic and provide connectivity to the 126 km Virar-Alibaug Multi-Modal Corridor.
This project will be the third road tunnel in and around Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). From north to south:
- 5.5 km Fountain Hotel Junction – Gaimukh Tunnel (MMRDA)
- 10.8 km Borivali – Thane Tunnel (MMRDA)
- 6.3 km Goregaon Mulund Link Road Tunnel (MCGM / BMC)
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– TMRG
Fabulous connectivity esp for somebody to go from vasai/virar/bhayander to thane and beyond. Before it was unimaginable. But all tunnel construction should get over ASAP. It gives mumbaikars in the far suburbs a better quality of commuting life.
Keep tunnel in pipeline, before that MH govt should make kaman-bhivandi-thane route more approcable
And
Construct bridge from Gaimukh Creek till Vasai Creek connecting Kaman
This will ease traffic by 50% and will also boost development of Kaman-Poman-Paye Village
Any idea who will be supplying TBM’s for Goregaon – Mulund Tunnel???
First fall they should give us updates about metro line 10 there s no railway connectivity in this region that’s more crucial metro line 10 should be given priority over others
Will it be by TBM or Traditional cut & blast NATM?
It’s nothing, just showoff, why up to only gaimukh… They can strech up to owla.. Costing May be 500 cr. For 5 km….
Hi I just fail to understand why the container trucks from Nhava Sheva port to North India have to pass through Thane via Ggodbunder road. MMRDA could easily build a connecting road from Shil Phata passing through Vashind and onwards to Ahmedabad highway. This road can be a part of Virar Alibaug road and will decongest Thane city and Ghodbunder area.