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Mumbai-Pune Expressway Missing Link Gets New Rockfall Protection
A landslide happened near a tunnel on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in July.
Heavy rain caused large rocks to fall from the hillside.
Water also flowed onto the road like a waterfall.
Officials are now making the hillside safer.
They are moving streams away from the tunnel and removing unstable rocks.
They are using steel bolts and mesh to hold the slope together.
Steel barriers will catch some rocks that might still fall.
The work is expected to be finished by the end of October.
MSRDC is adding rockfall protections above the Missing Link tunnel mouths after a July 6 landslide.
The work includes diverting water channels, removing loose rock, drilling steel anchors, installing high-tensile mesh and building boulder barriers.
The measures cover about 1.38 hectares, with 50–60% completed and completion targeted for the end of October.
Some July boulders were estimated to weigh 17–20 tonnes and damaged the tunnel entrance’s false frame.
The strengthened sections are being designed for a 1-in-1,000-year weather event, compared with the original 1-in-100-year benchmark.
- Who
- The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation is overseeing the work, Navayuga Engineering Company Limited is carrying it out, and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay recommended the measures.
- What
- Authorities are installing additional rockfall and drainage protections above the Missing Link tunnel mouths.
- Where
- Above the tunnel mouths of the Missing Link on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra.
- When
- The landslide occurred on July 6; the protection work began afterward and is targeted for completion by the end of October.
- Why
- The work is intended to reduce the risk from loose rock and water channels during extreme rainfall, after the landslide exposed risks higher up the hillside.
Key facts
- Area covered
- About 1.38 hectares of hillside above the tunnel mouths
- Work completed
- Approximately 50–60%
- Completion target
- End of October
- Landslide boulder size
- Some boulders were estimated at 17–20 tonnes
- New design benchmark
- A weather event with a 1-in-1,000-year probability
- Original benchmark
- A 1-in-100-year weather event
- Missing Link length
- 13.3 kilometres
- Project cost
- Rs 6,695 crore
Quotes
Rajesh Patil
Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation
“Work on implementing these rockfall mitigation measures began immediately after the incident, but we’ve had to wait for dry spells in the monsoon to carry them out properly. By now, around 50 to 60 per cent of the work has been completed.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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