Tunnel boring machines for Pune metro arrive at Mumbai’s JNPT port

The first Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) for the underground stretch of the Pune metro from College of Agriculture, Shivajinagar to Swargate, arrived at Mumbai’s Jawaharlal

The first Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) for the underground stretch of the Pune metro from College of Agriculture, Shivajinagar to Swargate, arrived at Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) on Wednesday.

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The machines, which have been shipped from Hong Kong, will be used to dig tunnels for the five-km stretch having five metro stations. The machines will be brought to Pune by road and work will start by the second half of this month, said Brijesh Dixit, managing director, Maha-Metro.

Dixit said, “Once the machines arrive in Pune, we will start digging from College of Agriculture.” The five stations on the stretch will be Shivajinagar bus depot, Civil court, Fadke Haud, Mandai and Swargate - all of which are considered to be the most congested areas of the city.

A total of four machines will be required for this stretch and tenders for two such machines has been given to Terratec in Hong Kong. The diameter of the TBM is 6.65 metres and height is 120 metres.