Full Span Launching Equipment flagged off for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project

Chennai, India (Urban Transport News): Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off indigenously designed and manufactured- Full Span Launching Equipment-Straddle Carrier and Girder Transporter to expedite the construction of a viaduct for Mumbai- Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor, through video conferencing here today.           

The Transporter was launched in the presence of other key dignitaries Miyamoto Shingo, Minister, Embassy of Japan; Suneet Sharma, Chairman & CEO, Railway Board; Satish Agnihotri, Managing Director, National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL); Anupam Kumar and S N Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, L&T Construction. 

Addressing the gathering via video conference, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that to encourage the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan initiative, full span launching equipment of 1100MT capacity is indigenously designed and manufactured by Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) at Kanchipuram, Chennai. L&T has partnered with 55 Micro-Small Medium Enterprises (MSME). India is now coming in the select group of countries like Italy, Norway, Korea, and China which have been designing and manufacturing such equipment. This will expedite the construction of the high-speed railway, as is the proven technology in metro and similar projects.

"Work has already begun on 325 km (in Gujarat state) out of the 508 km corridor between Mumbai & Ahmedabad. More than 97% of the land has been acquired for the project in Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 30% land in Maharashtra. This project will improve skillset in various rail construction technologies. Japanese counterparts will provide training to National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited employees and also to contractors. More than 6000 workers are already working at various construction sites for the project, thus creating employment opportunities for the local youth," he said. 

He further stated that the Mumbai Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project is expected to create more than 90,000 jobs in this area including 51,000 jobs for technicians, skilled and unskilled workers. This project will boost the overall economy of the area by deploying 1000s of trucks, dumpers, excavators, batching plants, tunneling equipment and so on. It is estimated that 7.5 million tonnes of cement, 2.1 million tonnes of steel and 70000 tonnes of structural steel will be used in the construction. NHSRCL is also preparing detailed project reports for seven high-speed rail corridors. With the experience of execution of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project, the works of other corridors will be faster. 

For the construction of viaduct superstructures of 508 km long, Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project (MAHSR), the State-of-the-Art construction methodologies like Full Span Launching Methodology (FSLM) will be adopted. This technology will expedite the process of launching girders as the precast girders of full span length will be erected as a single piece for a double-track viaduct. FSLM is used the world over as it is faster than the segment by segment launching method, usually adopted for the construction of viaducts for the metro rail system. India is now coming in the select group of countries like Italy, Norway, Korea, and China which have been designing and manufacturing such equipment.

The standard precast Pre Stressed Concrete (PSC) Box Girders (weight ranging from 700 to 975 metric tonnes) of span 30, 35 and 45 meters will be launched by using FSLM methodology for the high-speed corridor. The heaviest PSC Box Girder weighing 975 MT and of 40 meter length will be used for the first time in the construction industry in India for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. 

To encourage the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan initiative, FSLM equipment of 1100MT capacity is indigenously designed and manufactured by M/s Larsen &Toubro at their manufacturing facility in Kanchipuram, Chennai, for which M/s L&T has partnered with 55 Micro-Small Medium Enterprises (MSME).  

A total of 20 such launching equipment will be required for the construction of viaduct 325 km of viaduct superstructures between Vapi and Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat.