India’s Biggest Tunnel Boring Machine To Build Country’s First Under Sea Tunnel As Part Of Mumbai’s Coastal Road Project

India’s biggest Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - Mavala has been at work 20 metres under Priyadarshini Park at Nepean Sea Road as part of the Mumbai Coastal Road project, reports Financial Express.

The Mumbai Coastal Road project to link South Mumbai to the end of Worli through a high-speed corridor costs Rs 12,721 crore. It comprises a road, a tunnel as well as an interchange.

TBM - Mavala is part of the project to build India’s first undersea tunnel between the Priyadarshini Park and Chowpatty.

This tunneling work falls under Mumbai’s 29.2 km long Coastal Road (Western Freeway) project.

TBM Mavala, a slurry tunnel boring machine with a diameter of 12.19 meter, is being used to execute the tunneling work.

This slurry TBM was manufactured by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (CRCHI) and arrived in Mumbai’s Priyadarshini Park neighborhood in April 2020.

The TBM Mavala will operate 75 meters below the surface in Malabar Hill and 25 meter beneath Girgaum. L&T which executes this project is working towards a target of excavating 9 meters on a daily basis so that the project could be completed within the internal deadline of 18 months by June 2022.