The two organizations Afcons Transtonnelstroy and Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd (KMCRL) involved in implementing the East West Metro have completed boring the India’s first underwater tunnel under the Hooghly river to link Howrah and Kolkata.
The length of Kolkata’s East West Metro is 16.6 km long.
Out of which a length of 502 metres is under the Hooghly river. The project is built by Afcons Transtonnelstroy and implemented by KMRCL.
Afcons Transtonnelstroy is an Indo-Russian joint venture. The project connects Howrah to the west and Salt lake to the east.
Digging the underwater tunnel was the critical task in the project.
A massive tunnel boring machine called Rachna was used for boring the underwater tunnel. The tunnel boring job was completed within in a time of one month and six days well ahead of schedule.
The East West Metro with a length of 16.6 km will have 12 stations, six of which will be underground stations. The project which was slated to be completed by 2012 got postponed many times. The final commissioning of the project is expected to be held by December 2019.
