Northern Rly achieves breakthrough of tunnel T-14

new delhi: In another major achievement, the Northern Railway achieved a breakthrough of main Tunnel T-14 between Sawalkote and Sangaldan station on under construction Katra-Banihal section of the USBRL Project. The breakthrough ceremony was done by a female employee, Indu Paul Kaur of Awantipora from Kashmir, an engineer at IRCON.

Shobhan Chaudhuri, General Manager Northern Railway informed that Northern Railway achieved this major milestone in the USBRL project on April 4 by executing breakthrough of Tunnel T-14 (main tunnel) between Sawalkote and Sangaldan station on under construction Katra-Banihal section of USBRL Project.

The line and level of the tunnel are precisely achieved during the breakthrough of T-14. T-14 is a tunnel of length 6.284 km and the ends are located in two districts namely Reasi and Ramban. The tunnel portals are located in remotest villages of district Reasi and Ramban with no road connectivity prior to start of tunnel construction.

The tunnel passes through complex geological conditions composing murree formation at the south end and dolomite at north end separated by subathu formation. Several challenges were encountered in the course of construction such as shear zone, encountering flammable gases (methane), perched aquifer, and highly-jointed rock mass. However, the team of experienced engineers of NR, KRCL& IRCON along with the executing agencies successfully negotiated all challenges and achieved this major breakthrough.