Breakthrough achieved on Sevoke-Rangpo railway tunnel

GANGTOGK,: In another milestone achieved in the tunnelling work of Sevoke-Rangpo railway project, a breakthrough of an evacuation tunnel with the main tunnel was achieved on December 10.

The first breakthrough in Tunnel No.11, located in Kalimpong district of West Bengal, was done in the presence of project director, chief general manager and other officers of Ircon International Limited, Northeast Frontier Railway, Amberg Engineering (Detail Design Consultancy) team and construction agency ABCI Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. along with local administration, informs an NFR release.

The 3,232 –metre main tunnel and 960-metre evacuation tunnel are located in between Tarkhola and Tumlangkhola in Kalimpong. The tunnel traverses through vulnerable and challenging geological conditions of the lesser Himalaya. Like all other tunnels in this rail project, to counter vulnerability of the groundmass, New Austrian Tunnelling Method has been adopted. Not only the top class and well experienced engineers from India, but also the highly experienced foreign engineers are also involved in this project. The evacuation tunnel connects the NH-10 with the Tunnel No. 11.

This new rail link project is about 45 kilometres long and is characterised by 14 tunnels, 13 major bridges, 10 minor bridges and four new stations. About 38 kilometres of the entire project alignment passes through tunnels and that 63% of tunnelling work has been completed and four tunnels have been through. At present, all the activities related to construction of tunnels, bridges and station yards are going on war footing basis to complete the project by end of 2023, the release mentions.