Asia’s second longest railway tunnel is about to be thrown open for public by Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh today, June 26 2013. The much awaited tunnel is an engineering marvel. Constructed in rugged terrains, the tunnel is aligned from North to South for its length.
Kashmir Life’s photo chief Bilal Bahadur visited the place many times before and captured the making of tunnel which Dr Singh along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is going to inaugurate.
Challenging and marvelous project in Indian civil engineering history, Pir Panchal Tunnel, India’s longest tunnel (10.96 Km) for transportation. After hard labour and latest technologybeing put in place, the tunnel is finally ready
The construction method adopted is New Austrian Tunneling Method(NATM) with latest technologies of 3D monitoring system. Reportedly no Indian made machine was used in India’s longest railway tunnel.
Water Proof and completely equipped with fire fighting system throughout the entire length, tunnel is aligned straight from North to South for its length.
It is constructed in the rugged terrains. It connects the Bichleri valley at the south side with the Kashmir valley on the North side.
The quantum of work involves one million cum of under ground excavation in the young Himalayan region with surprising geological challenges.
The nearest town in South and North side is Banihal and Qazigund respectively.
Divided into six zones, the contract for zone iv and v has been executed by HCC, one of the pioneer companies in construction and infrastructure development.
The tunnel is expected to flip the roles. Banihal is about to become new destination. Local children did not miss a photo opportunity.
The tunnel is a major part of Udhampur- Srinagar- Baramulla broad gauge rail line project.
Highest over burden of 1100 m, road headers were used for the first time in India for railway tunneling.
The Pir Panchal tunnel passes 440 m below the existing Jawahar road tunnel and crosses NH1 in three locations.
Provision of 3m wide concrete road inside the tunnel throughout the length for maintenance and emergency relief purpose and usage of geotechnical instruments for routine monitoring .
Over 1500 workers were employed to work on the project. Most of the labourers engaged were from Nepal and various states of India, several departments of HCC engineers and foreign technicians have been involved in specialized tasks on the tunnel
I HAVE LIKE BANIHAL-KAJIGUND RAILWAY IMAGE
& THIS STEP-ENTERPRICE IS PRIDE OF OUR COUNTRY