Indian Railways has focussed on execution of maintenance works pending for several years confronting Railways with severe bottlenecks. In this series, Indian Railway has taken up major tunnelling work in a big way for the Broad gauge 3rd line between Barkhera – Budni (26.50 kms.) section of Bhopal – Itarsi third line project of West Central Railway zone.
- Indian Railways’ PSU, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited is constructing Five Tunnels with NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) having ballast less track in connection with third electrified broad-gauge railway line between Barkhera – Budni on Bhopal – Itarsi route on Bhopal Division of West Central Railway in Sehore and Raisin Districts of Madhya Pradesh.
- This will ease congestion on Golden Diagonal, Delhi – Chennai route. With the commissioning of the third line, trains shall run at a speed of 130 Kmph between Bina-Bhopal-Itarsi Section.
- For capacity enhancement, work of construction of third line on Bhopal – Itarsi Section is sanctioned by Railway Board in three separate works i.e.
- Habibganj (HBJ) – Barkhera (BKA) – 41.42 KMs – Work Completed
- Barkhera (BKA) – Budni (BNI) 26.5 KMs – Work in Progress
- Budni (BNI) – Itarsi (ET) 25 KMs – Work Completed
- Section 1 & 3 fall in plain territory and do not involve issues e.g. Wildlife/Forest clearances, land acquisition etc.
- In Section 2 i.e. Barkhera (BKA) – Budni (BNI) section, the entire length of existing two tracks as well as the proposed track falls either in Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary (Tiger Habitat) or it’s Eco-Sensitive Zone.
Salient Features of the project:
| 1) | Year of Sanction | |
| Barkhera-Budni 3rd Line | 2011 – 2012 | |
| 2) | Project Cost | |
| Barkhera-Budni | Rs 991.60 Cr | |
| 3) | Length of Project | 26.50 Km |
| 4) | Number of Stations | 4 |
| 5) | Number of Tunnels | 5 |
| 6) | Date of Completion | |
| Barkhera-Budni | June 2022 |
- RVNL is constructing these tunnels in the horse shoe section; this form consists of a semi-circular roof together with arched sides and a curved invert.
- The method followed to construct this tunnel is NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method).
- NATM is a support method to stabilize the tunnel perimeter by means of sprayed concrete, anchors and other supports and uses monitoring to control stability.
The location of these tunnels is:-
| S.No | Tunnel No. | Length | Remarks |
| 1 | T1 (Budni) | 1080.00 | Single Track |
| 2 | T2 (Midghat) | 200.00 | Single Track |
| 3 | T3 (Bhimkoti) | 200.00 | Single Track |
| 4 | T4 (Choka) | 140.00 | Double Track |
| 5 | T5 (Barkhera) | 530.00 | Double Track |
| Total Length | 2150.00 | ||
Tunnel T-1:
- Breakthrough of Tunnel-1(1080 m) was done on 18.03.2021.
- Present status:
- Invert cleaning and PCC work in progress.
- Excavation and installation for 315mm dia Central drain is in progress.
- Installation of 160mm dia perforated side drain with Nofine concrete is in progress
- Waterproofing installation in progress
- Invert lining (Bottom RCC) in progress
Tunnel T-2:
- Tunnel -2 is a 200 m Single Track tunnel.
- Present status:
- Portal development work is in progress.
- Epoxy grouting in an existing tunnel in progress.
Tunnel T-3:
- Tunnel -3 is a 200 m Single Track tunnel.
- Present status:
- Underground excavation around 51m from Portal-1 and Portal-2 is completed.
- At present benching excavation in progress from Portal-2 side.
Tunnel T-4:
- Tunnel-4 is a 140 m Double Track tunnel.
- Present status:
- Portal development work is in progress at Itarsi end.
- Tunnel excavation started from Bhopal end. 12m excavation completed.
Tunnel T-5:
- Breakthrough of Tunnel-5(530 m) was done on 19.02.2021.
- The tunnel was constructed on a 500 m curvature.
- The total length of Tunnel-5 is 530m and the width is 14.4 m, which is exceptional, as this is a double track tunnel.
- The construction of single track tunnels is the norm over Indian Railways.
- As Tunnel-5 lies in a wildlife sanctuary, very strict procedures were followed which included tunnelling work being done only in one shift from sunrise to sunset.
- Tunnelling was started in May 2020 from both ends as per procedure and on Feb 21 the complete tunnel was excavated on 19.02.2021.
- The tunnels from both ends met in perfect alignment with zero error, thus maintaining complete accuracy and resulting in a perfect breakthrough.
- This was achieved despite three months of heavy monsoon and lockdown period. All safety norms were observed successfully.
- Present status:
- Complete excavation by heading and Benching of Double Track Tunnel T-5 completed on 09.05.2021.
- Invert cleaning and PCC work in progress.
- Excavation and installation for 315mm dia Central drain is in progress.
- Installation of 160mm dia perforated side drain with No fine concrete is in progress
- Waterproofing installation in progress
- Invert lining (Bottom RCC) in progress
Source: PIB-Press Release
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