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Due to Covid-19, the Mumbai-Nagpur highway was postponed to 2022. At the same time, a machine with excellent operational reliability was specially airlifted from a German supplier to help speed up the process of the project. The highway, also known as Samruddhi Mahamarg in Maharashtra, is highly anticipated. Eight lanes of more than 701 kilometers will connect the two metropolises of Mumbai and Nagpur. Travel time will be reduced from approximately 18 hours to only 8 hours: travelers will effectively save a whole day.
Mumbai is considered the most important port city in the subcontinent. Nagpur is not only the geographic center of India, but also an important industrial area. The highway is expected to have a huge positive impact on the economic growth of the entire western India. 3500 cubic meters of concrete Planning for this ambitious project began in 2016, but the project was plagued by delays.
The global pandemic has worsened the situation further. Now, it is expected to open to traffic in May 2022. To ensure that this timetable is achieved, many places have tightened the reins. The whole project is divided into 16 parts, three of which are planned for tunnels. Tunnel construction is critical because it is a place where delays usually occur due to immeasurable technology and geology.
For this demanding sub-discipline, a special shotcrete machine IS26 was ordered from the German manufacturer GHH. It was used for the main part of 520 kilometers between Nagpur and Shirdi for spraying concrete on the tunnel wall.
The investment in this machine has paid off, because unlike other heavy construction equipment, the availability rate of GHH’s IS26 exceeds 98%, after more than half a year of calculation.
Small footprint, big impact IS26 is very compact and can be optimally arranged with concrete in hard-to-reach places on the tunnel wall. For this reason, it has an articulated arm instead of rigid arms of other brands. This is an important argument for the safety of the completed tunnel (later).
The vertical spraying range of the spray bar can reach 15 m, and the horizontal spraying range can reach 10.5 m. The nozzle can rotate 360 degrees. The machine is designed for tunnel cross-sections of 16 to 130 square meters. It is all-wheel drive, equipped with four-wheel steering, and has a ROPS and FOPS second-level certification cab, providing drivers with a high level of safety reserves. The driver’s job is easy because he/she can not only rotate the seat 180 degrees, but also remotely control the machine.
News Source : NBM&CW
