Mumbai-Delhi Expressway: Breakthrough Of Morbe Tunnel On Maharashtra-Gujarat Route Achieved In 17 Months

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday achieved another major milestone in the construction of the Mumbai-Delhi Expressway as it made a 4.16-km breakthrough on the right-hand side of Morbe Tunnel on the Vadodara-Mumbai stretch in just 17 months. The achievement comes weeks after the breakthrough of the left-hand side tunnel in August.

The 4.16-km twin tube eight-lane tunnel falls under the Matheran eco-sensitive zone in Maharashtra and is being built under the EPC mode under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Bhoj to Morbe section is a spur of the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway, falling under the Delhi-Mumbai Greenfield alignment project.

In a series of posts on social media platform X, the NHAI said the tunnel is a part of the Mumbai-Expressway and is being designed for high-speed travel with advanced safety features.

“The NHAI today marked another milestone with the successful breakthrough of the 4.16 km long right-hand side of Morbe Tunnel on Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway… This breakthrough comes just months after the breakthrough of the left-hand side tunnel in August 2024, completed in a record-breaking time of 17 months,” it said.

On August 28, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the breakthrough of the left-hand side tunnel, saying this engineering marvel, designed for high-speed travel with advanced safety features, represents a major achievement in infrastructure.

“Today marks a significant milestone as we successfully achieved the breakthrough of the 4.16 km Morbe Tunnel on the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway in a record 15 months… It will enhance connectivity, bring prosperity to Maharashtra and Gujarat, and contribute to the nation’s economic growth,” he had said.

Ircon International, building the tunnel, also announced that it has achieved another milestone on Wednesday, with the breakthrough of the 4.16-km-long Bhoj-Morbe Tunnel (RHS Tube) of 205 square meter cross-sectional area within 18 months.

“IRCON’s technical expertise ensured high precision in achieving accurate horizontal and vertical alignments, Zero/No accidents during the entire construction period,” the public sector undertaking said.

In August, it had said that it achieved a remarkable milestone on August 28 with the breakthrough of the 4.16-km long Morbe Tunnel, with a gargantuan cross-sectional area of 205 square meters, on the Vadodara-Mumbai eight-lane expressway in a record 15 months.

“IRCON’s technical expertise and precision in achieving accurate horizontal and vertical alignments demonstrate their capabilities in executing large-scale tunnel projects under challenging conditions. This tunnel will enhance connectivity, foster economic growth, and contribute to the prosperity of both Maharashtra and Gujarat,” it announced in August.

Passing through and connecting Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, the Mumbai-Delhi expressway is being developed at a cost of about Rs 1 lakh crore.

It is expected to halve the commute time between Delhi and Mumbai, from nearly 24 hours to 12 hours, and shorten the distance by 130 km. Even before completion, the partially opened Delhi-Mumbai expressway is the longest in India, surpassing all the existing e-ways in the country.

Work on almost half of the packages in the expressway has been completed as of June 2024 and construction has been completed on 82% of the stretch. Of the total length of 1,386 km, a cumulative length of 1,136 km has been constructed and the revised scheduled completion date is October 2025.