Mumbai - Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project: ‘Made In India’ Girder Launcher Erects First One Km Of Viaduct

In a significant achievement in its progress, the Mumbai - Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project has completed the first one km of continuous viaduct.

Also, it is significant that this erection was achieved with a ‘made in India’ Full Span girder launcher.

The full span launching equipment of 1,100MT capacity is indigenously designed and manufactured by M/s Larsen &Toubro at Kanchipuram, Chennai.

M/s L&T has partnered with 55 Micro-Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) to build it. India is now coming into the select group of countries like Italy, Norway, Korea, and China to design and manufacture such equipment.

This development will expedite the high-speed railway construction, as it is a proven technology in metro and similar projects.

For constructing 508 km long viaduct superstructures of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project (MAHSR), State-of-the-Art construction methodologies like Full Span Launching Methodology (FSLM) will be adopted.

This technology will expedite the launching of girders as the precast girders of full span length will be erected as a single piece for a double-track viaduct. FSLM has been used worldwide as it is faster than the segment-by-segment launching method, usually adopted for constructing viaducts for metro systems.

The 508 km long MAHSR project will cover 155.76 km in Maharashtra, 4.3 km in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 348.04 km in Gujarat, with 12 stations en route.

Upon completion, the High-Speed Rail will operate at 320 Kmph, covering the entire distance in approximately 2 hours with limited stops and 3 hours with all stops.

Progress so far in India’s first bullet train corridor

The MAHSR project has achieved 100 per cent and 98.8 per cent land acquisition in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Gujarat, respectively. In Maharashtra, the land acquisition progress is 75.25 per cent.

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), the executing agency, is aiming to expedite the construction of the bullet train project.

So far, 162 km of piling and 79.2 km of pier work have been completed. Also, the Passenger Terminal Hub at Sabarmati is nearing completion.

NHSRCL has developed casting Yards at 25 strategic locations along the alignment.

Out of 25 casting yards, 17 are full span casting yards, and eight are segmental casting yards. Each Casting Yard is spread over 16 to 93 acres per requirement and is located adjacent to the High-Speed Rail alignment.

According to NHSRCL, the cumulative area of 25 Casting Yards is around 1,000 acres.