Mumbai: Second tunnel of coastal road to be completed soon

Work on the coastal road at Haji Ali. Pic/Ashish Raje

The excavation work of the second tunnel of the coastal road will be complete in the third week of May. The work was supposed to be completed by December end last year but the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) got damaged and it took three months to repair it. Under the Mumbai Coastal Road Project, 2.070 km long tunnels are being constructed on both sides between Priyadarshini Park and Girgaon Chowpatty. The excavation of the first tunnel was completed on January 10, 2022 and the work was completed in 364 days. The work on the second tunnel began in April 2022 and was expected to be over by the end of 2022.

After parts of the TBM got damaged, the tunneling work was halted and it resumed in mid-March when the TBM's spare part finally arrived from Italy. An engineer working on the coastal road said, "Last year, the work of excavation was on at full speed, but after the repair the work is going on at a slow speed with utmost care. The excavation is in the final stage and the second tunnel work will be completed by the third week of May."

The twin tunnels are being built at a depth of 10 to 12 metres and 70 metres at Malabar Hill. The construction of the first tunnel started on January 11, 2021, at Priyadarshini Park. Each tunnel is 12.19 metres in diameter, and 11 cross tunnels will connect the two main ones that will be fitted with the Saccardo ventilation system (introducing air jets at a high velocity of around 30m/s). The 10.58-km coastal road is being constructed from the Princess Street flyover to the southern end of Bandra-Worli Sea Bridge (Sea Link). The project includes 4+4 lanes, bridges, elevated roads and tunnels.

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About 72 per cent of the work has been completed, and parts of the coastal road are expected to be ready by December 2023. The BMC started the construction work in December 2018, and the total cost, including taxes and charges, was projected to be Rs 12,000 crore. However, the consultant charge has increased and project cost increased by another Rs 600 crore to remove one pillar after demands from the fisherfolk. The construction of that part will take an additional six months, said an engineer of the BMC.

2.07 km
Length of the tunnels of the coastal road