TUNNELING NEW RECORDS

Patel Engineering Limited has accomplished a record breaking progress of Main tunnel Lining of 400 meterin Aug'21 from single face with single shutter of 12.5 meter length in USBRL Project PackageT-2inKatra-Banihal stretch despite of multiple challenges.

Patel Engineering (PEL) has created a milestone in Package T-2 executed under Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula Rail Link Project (USBRL) in August 2021 by achieving record breaking progress of 400 meters in lining the main tunnel from single face and cumulative of 775 meters from two faces with 12.5 meters of single shutter in each face with average cycle time of 22.5 hrs at a pouring rate of 31.25 cum/hr. PEL is the first and only contractor to have achieved this success in USBRL project till date.

PEL has achieved this success only because of the passion, technical expertise, dedication, and hard work of our team. With a strength of 430 team members and consistent guidance and support from our esteemed client Northern Railway, Konkan Railway and the PEL management. The tunnel T-2 is constructed under USBRL Project located between Katra to Banihal. The tunnel is a double tube tunnel that consists of the main tunnel of 5.1 km and the escape tunnel parallel to the main tunnel, both tunnels are interconnected by cross passages. This is one of the key packages in USBRL project to connect Kashmir with rest of India making the journey seamless, hassle free and all-weather connectivity.

In the month of June 2021, our team achieved 250 meters of tunnel lining from a single face and a cumulative of 925 meters from four faces (2 from the main tunnel and 2 from the escape tunnel), this achievement motivated the team to strive for more progress. They planned to achieve a target of 625 meters of tunnel lining in the main tunnel from two faces in the month of August. The task was challenging and demanded precision expertise to execute. With a team of experienced professionals and young engineers we were able to achieve the target within 21 days. The team was further motivated and wanted to create a record that resulted in achieving a progress of 775 meters in lining the main tunnel. Despite scarcity of mining minerals in the Reasi district, this was possible to achieve only because of accurate planning, availability and effective utilisation of all the resources like transit mixer, batching plant and concrete pumps, with minimal break downs and simultaneous maintenance. Tunnelling projects usually struggle with risk management. Risk analysis of health, safety and environment was calculated and control measures were in strictly put in place to take necessary precautions during execution which resulted in clocking 4 million safe man-hours and zero incidents.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has changed the world we live in. We immediately implemented all the safety protocol to keep our team safe. We arranged a mass 'Covid-19 Vaccination Drive' where 100% of the staff was vaccinated. Our team at PEL is strives every day to deliver excellence by achieving timely targets, meeting the expectation of the client and in contribute to building the infrastructure of the country.

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