Maligaon, August 08: In a major milestone, tunnel no. T-06 (3943 meters long) of the Sivok – Rangpo Rail Project (SRRP), located in Kalimpong District of West Bengal, achieved the breakthrough on 6th August, 2024.
There are total 14 tunnels in this project. With the breakthrough of this tunnel, mining activities have been successfully accomplished in 12 tunnels of this project.
The length of the Main Tunnel T-06 is 3943 meters, along with an Evacuation Tunnel of length 577 meters situated near the NHPC, Teesta Low Dam Power Station III in Kalimpong District, West Bengal.
The Main Tunnel traverses through vulnerable and challenging geological and seismic conditions of the Younger Himalayas. Like all other tunnels in the SRRP.
To counter vulnerability of the ground mass, latest and most sophisticated tunneling technology, i.e., New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) has been used here. 66% of work has already been completed in the Sivok – Rangpo new rail line project.
The Sivok – Rangpo new rail link project connecting Sivok (West Bengal) and Rangpo (Sikkim) is about 44.96 kms long and is characterized by 14 nos. tunnels, 13 major bridges, 09 minor bridges and 5 nos. stations.
The length of the longest tunnel (T-10) is 5.3 km and length of longest bridge (Br-17) is 425 meters. About 38.65 kms of the entire project alignment is passing through tunnels. 93.5% of the tunneling work has already been completed.
At present final lining has been completed in tunnel T-02, T-03, T-09, T-12 &T-14 and lining is under progress in tunnels, T-1, T-4,T-07, T-08, T-10, T-11 and T-13. Total 16.45 km lining has been completed till date. Work in all sections is being carried out round the clock on 24×7 basis.
This is one of the most prestigious ongoing National Projects in India and on completion of this project, first time the state of Sikkim will be connected via railways. This rail network on its completion is aimed to provide alternate and stable connectivity to the state of Sikkim.
At present all the activities related to construction of tunnels, bridges and station yards are going on war footing for early completion of the project. Northeast Frontier Railway is working hard for the early completion of the project.
