Mumbai’s Metro has got its first tunnel boring machine. It will be used to dig twin tunnels for the 33.5km Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 line.

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is being produced by a tunnel manufacturer Herrenknecht AG with its manufacturing unit in Guangzhou, China. Using cranes with a gantry capacity of 135 tonnes, the TBM will be lowered from the launching shaft in Naya Nagar, Mahim. As per the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), the TBM will be assembled in the next 45 days for the construction of 6.08-kilometer twin tunnel between Siddhivinayak and Dharavi. As this is the first TBM in India, it will give the tunneling project a start which will be followed by the launch of more 17 TBMs in the next two years.

The TBM has an air-conditioned cubicle with its own sanitation system in the machine for the TBM operator. The first tunneling project will start by October end at the Naya Nagar shaft. The TBM will dig through the Shitaladevi Metro Station until the proposed Dadar Metro station. A second TBM will be launched by November end from the same shaft. This will be deployed for the second twin tunnel. The length is 2.5 kilometer for each tunnel and the drive will be completed within a year’s span.