India’s major tunnel project well underway

The tunnelling portion of India’s Chenani-Nashri tunnel project has now been completed. This 9.2km tunnel is of major importance for India as it will improve the transport connection between the Kashmir Valley and Jammu, reducing the distance by 30km. The tunnel is expected to open for traffic in May 2016 and will feature modern safety systems, setting a precedent for India. Advanced technology will be installed to handle ventilation, communications and traffic management, as well as safety systems such as incident detection and fire control. The sophisticated traffic monitoring and safety technology is being supplied by specialist 5264 Indra. The tunnel has a diameter of 13m and was bored using NATM techniques.