A TERRATEC Micro Tunnel Boring Machine (MTBM) achieved a major milestone on the city Ahmedabad’s new sewage tunnel system in India.  It is the first time, the city has used  the microtunnelling method to lay trunk-lines underground for transferring sewage water.  

The TERRATEC MTBM had been selected by the ITD Cementation India Limited to build a new sewage system in the western part of the city of Ahmedabad. The city’s existing drainage system struggles to keep up with the current demand and suffers from frequent floods.  

The new trunk-line in the western part of the city will cover the area from Vadaj Circle to Mahalaxmi Char Rasta – a stretch of about 6.5km. Sewage water from existing lines will be diverted into this line and transported to the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Vasna for treatment. The transport capacity will also be increased to 550 million litres of sewage water per day upon completion of the project.  

This MTBM System was designed for DN1400 concrete pipes with the option of a later size increase and upgrade for DN1600 pipes. TERRATEC’s scope of supply includes the MTBM Shields, Main Jacking Stations, Intermediate Jacking Stations, Slurry Transport and Lubrication Systems, digital Guidance Systems and Control Room. In addition, TERRATEC also provided ITD a service package on site which included the dispatch of key engineers and MTBM operators.  

The project has begun in Vadaj area and it will take about 2 years for completion of the trunk-line. The lines will include different diameters of 1400mm and 1600mm.  

The machines are to bore in the Ahmedabad soil composed of clay, stiff clay and sand. Some state-of-the art features include a Cone Crusher integrated into the Cutter Head structure and Terratec laser guidance system.  

“Being the leading TBM supplier to Indian Tunnelling (Metro, Hydro, Sewerage) industry, TERRATEC continues to perform well with another MTBM breakthrough in the country.” says Gulshan Gill, Managing Director of Terratec in India. “In the past 10 years, TERRATEC has supplied TBMs, MTBMs, rolling stock systems to contractors in the tunnel construction industry including LNT, TATA, ITD, HCC, J.KUMAR, PATEL, SOMA, GULERMAK and SAMSUNG. As a matter of fact, TERRATEC TBMs has completed over 70 km of the accumulated tunnel in a timely and safe manner." Visit http://terratec.co/NewsInfos/detail/84 for more information. 52/20.