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New Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Tunnel Road bidders want B-Smile to clear dust and debris
BENGALURU: Big companies showing interest in Bengaluru's Twin Tunnel Road project, have asked Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE) to take up the responsibility of clearing silt and soil after boring, but the civic body has shot down the proposal. It said the company bagging the tender will have an investment share of 60% under the Build-Own-Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model and will have to deal with it, and the government will only facilitate it. The 16.75-km tunnel road will take away 40 per cent of traffic from surface roads once completed, says BS Prahallad, Director, B-SMILE. The agencies which took part in the meeting, asked the civic body to extend the technical bid meeting scheduled for September 3. According to Prahallad, the land required for the project is very little, as most of the work is underground, and such projects have already been done in Mumbai, where a 4.5-km tunnel road was built. 'We already have Rs 800 crore, which will be used as compensation for land acquisition, and the team is involved in correspondence between the Ministry of Defence and Government of India, as permission will be required to drill a tunnel below their land,' he said. While the issue of transporting soil and silt from the tunnel has just begun to crop up, geologists and environmentalists argue that the absence of a plan to move silt and soil may lead to an increase in pollution, as dust particles may get mixed with air during summer, while during the monsoon, the dumped soil will turn into sludge and may run into fields and roads if dumping sites are not identified and handled well. 'There are guidelines for transporting soil and silt. It has to be done in an enclosed system. Before the excavation or boring, a study will have to be conducted to know the weak and strong areas, and corrective measures will have to be taken,' said Professor D Parameshwar Naik, department of Environmental Science, Bengaluru University.
India.com
05-08-2025
- Business
- India.com
Bengaluru's ambitious Hebbal-Silk Board underground tunnel attracts biggest names like Adani and Tata; estimated cost..., last date to submit...
(Representational image: New Delhi: Bengaluru, the capital of the southern state Karnataka and called Asia's Silicon Valley, has been in the news for various reasons, ranging from water shortage to bad roads that do not befit a world-class metropolitan city. Nevertheless, the development work is going on there, and this time it is related to Bengaluru's ambitious Hebbal–Silk Board underground tunnel. What is the Hebbal–Silk Board underground tunnel project? The proposed 16.75-km tunnel road that will connect the Central Silk Board to Hebbal has attracted 10 of India's top construction firms. These include the Adani Group, L&T Ltd, and Tata Projects. The representatives of these firms attended a pre-bid meeting held at the headquarters of Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE) in Vasanthnagar on Monday, 4 August. What is the role of B-SMILE? B-SMILE is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by the Karnataka government to fast-track major infrastructure projects in Bengaluru. It had invited tenders to design and construct the three-lane underground twin tunnel road about three weeks ago. How many companies have responded to the tender? As mentioned, India's top 10 construction firms sent their representatives to the pre-bid meeting held at the headquarters of B-SMILE. These companies include the Adani Group, L&T Ltd, Tata Projects, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, ITD Cementation India, Vishwa Samudra Engineering Ltd, Jayashankar, Ceigall India Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, and IRB Infrastructure sent their representatives to the meeting as well. What are the terms and conditions? This is being counted as among the first few steps, and it remains to be seen how many players will remain in the fray for the project, which is being taken up under the modified build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. According to the BOOT model, the construction companies are expected to invest 60% of the project cost (Rs 10,619 crore), besides depositing Rs 44 crore at the time of submitting the bids. In return, the government will provide toll collection rights for 30 years. What are the main details of the tunnel project and tenders? The estimated cost of the project is Rs 17,698 crore and has been divided into two packages: Hebbal Junction to Seshadri Road Race Course Junction (8.74 km) and Seshadri Road to Silk Board (8.01 km). The last date to submit bids is September 2. Technical Director at B-SMILE BS Prahallad, while expressing satisfaction over the response, said, 'Top construction companies have sent their representatives. Some have requested us to extend the last date for bid submission given the complexity of the project. They also raised queries about land allocation for debris disposal and the casting yard. We are confident that many will participate in the final bidding.' The crux of the project According to the source privy to the meeting, bidders sought more time, specifically to undertake geotechnical investigations along the proposed corridor. Under the plan, construction companies are required to deploy a total of eight Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), each capable of drilling around 2 km per year. The three-lane underground twin tunnel road, which will have a total tunnelling length of 33.49 km, has already come under environmental, feasibility and technical scrutiny from different stakeholders.
Hindustan Times
03-08-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Bengaluru's twin tunnel project to use slurry boring machines for excavation: Report
Plans for Bengaluru's new twin tunnel road, which will link Hebbal's Esteem Mall Junction and Silk Board Junction, will rely on slurry tunnel boring machines (TBMs) to do the heavy digging. A Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). (Representative image)(PTI) The organization overseeing the project, B-SMILE, opted not to use hard rock TBMs — machines generally preferred when excavating through areas riddled with boulders. Their decision comes after evaluating the city's subsurface, which blends both stones and softer soil, making slurry TBMs a better fit for the job. ALSO READ | Bengaluru resident questions city's liveability after 9 years: 'We're all just surviving' BS Prahlad, the project's technical director, shared that lessons from an earlier tunnel build in Mumbai pushed the team toward slurry-based machines this time around, according to The Hindu. ALSO READ | L&T terminated Corridor-2, Corridor-4 contracts of suburban rail project illegally: K-RIDE For the twin tunnel project, a total of eight tunnel boring machines will be brought in, starting work from five or six launch sites along the nearly 17-kilometre route. The massive venture is structured under a Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) model, which means successful bidders will be responsible for acquiring and managing the machinery, whether they import or locally assemble the TBMs themselves, the report stated. Past tunnel work in Bengaluru — like the Namma Metro — has achieved boring rates between 1.6 and 2 kilometres per year using similar technologies. The exact pace on this project will ultimately depend on the ground composition encountered during the drilling process. As part of the tendering process, the government is providing borewell survey information, but insists that detailed site investigation and analysis will be the winning bidder's responsibility. ALSO READ | Japanese man compares Bengaluru airport to a luxury hotel: 'Never seen anything like this before' The twin tunnel itself, spanning roughly 16.7 kilometres, aims to ease congestion by providing a new north-south route beneath the city's surface. Geological experts say the use of slurry TBMs may also help fill and secure natural fractures in Bengaluru's ancient, complex underground rock, some parts of which date back several billion years.
The Hindu
02-08-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Slurry tunnel boring machines to be deployed for Bengaluru Twin Tunnel Road Project
Slurry tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be deployed for the construction of Twin Tunnel Road between Hebbal Esteem Mall Junction and Silk Board Junction in Bengaluru. The Special Purpose Vehicle, B-SMILE, has ruled out the alternative option of using hard rock TBMs, which are generally more suitable for boulder-heavy terrains. Although this was considered, B-SMILE ultimately preferred slurry TBMs due to Bengaluru's geological composition, which is a combination of boulders and soil. B.S. Prahlad, director (Technical), B-SMILE, told The Hindu that hard rock TBMs had been used in a tunnel project in Mumbai, but issues were encountered there. 'So, we opted for slurry TBMs instead,' he said. Slurry TBMs use hydraulic methods to transport the excavated material and are best suited for mixed terrain. Namma Metro has traditionally used a combination of slurry TBMs and Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) TBMs. 'As our terrain is mixed in nature, there's a high risk of damage to the blades of Hard Rock TBMs. In contrast, slurry TBMs use bentonite, which allows the springs or blades to adjust based on the pressure exerted on the excavator, making it ideal for Bengaluru's terrain,' Mr. Prahlad explained. Bentonite, a type of clay, plays a crucial role in slurry TBM operations by helping regulate pressure. The government has finalised the use of eight TBMs for the project. These will be deployed from five to six different launching shafts to begin excavation. Mr. Prahallad mentioned that the entire project tender has been issued under the Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) model, which means that the winning bidders will be responsible for procuring the TBMs themselves. When asked about the technical specifications of the TBMs, Mr. Prahlad clarified that it is up to the contractors to decide whether to purchase the machines outright or assemble them locally. Historically, TBMs used in Bengaluru (by Namma Metro) have averaged a progress rate of 1.6 to 1.7 km per year. While similar efficiency is expected for this tunnel project, the deciding factor will be the nature of the terrain encountered during excavation. According to Mr. Prahallad, B-SMILE has only provided the borewell survey report along with the tender documents, in compliance with guidelines from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Any further geological analysis is the responsibility of the contractors, given the BOOT model structure of the project. 'The tender clearly states that supporting documents, such as geotechnical data, are to be treated as references only. The contractors are required to conduct their own in-depth analyses,' Mr. Prahlad said. The Detailed Project Report had originally specified that intrusive surveys would be conducted well before the tendering process. However, with the current model, the responsibility for detailed analysis now rests with the successful bidder. B-SMILE has rolled out tenders for the 16.7 km long twin tunnel project, aimed at decongesting the city by connecting northern and southern parts. T.J. Renukaprasad, retired professor of geology, explained that the rationale behind choosing slurry TBMs could be to seal the fracture points in the terrain. 'Bengaluru has hard rock terrain, which predominantly has peninsular gneissic rock and is also intruded by many rocks like granite and dolerite. Due to geotechnical activities, there are fractures developed in the terrain; to cement those fractures, they may be using slurry TBMs,' Mr. Renukaprasad said. He explained that these rocks in the Bengaluru terrain are over 3,200 million years old, and some are 2,500 years old.
New Indian Express
30-07-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Tunnel road DPR cuts tunnelling timeline to 24 months
BENGALURU: Tunnelling for Bengaluru's proposed Tunnel Road project, initially estimated to take 33 months, has now been slashed to 24 months in the final Detailed Project Report (DPR). While experts call the projection unrealistic, official from Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE) say the reduced timeline is possible due to the deployment of eight high-speed Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), as opposed to the earlier plan to use six medium to average-speed TBMs. The draft DPR had pegged the total project completion time at 61 months, of which 33 months were dedicated to tunnelling. The final DPR, however, brings down the overall project duration to 50 months, with just 24 months assigned for boring through 16.7 km. Speaking to TNIE, BS Prahallad, Director of B-SMILE, said, 'We initially planned for six TBMs with an average cutting speed of 90 metres per month, but the timeline was too long. To reduce the duration, we decided to both add more machines and upgrade to high-speed cutting models. Each high-speed TBM can cut a minimum of 200 meters per month—that's 2.4 kilometers per year, assuming ideal conditions.' 'One high-speed TBM can cut approximately 4 km in two years, and since the total tunnelling required is a little over 32 km, eight machines can complete it in two years,' he explained. Experts, however, voiced their concerns with regard to timeline. Ashish Verma, professor of transportation systems engineering at IISc, said, 'The type of rock or surface you encounter during tunneling is not always predictable. These uncertainties are rarely factored into the timelines. Based on Bengaluru's past experience, especially with Metro tunneling, unexpected challenges are common. Government inefficiency and delays in land acquisition also contribute significantly.' 'If adding two TBMs saves nine months, why not add two more and claim it'll be done in a year? It is disappointing that the DPR has arbitrarily determined the construction period. If the assumptions in the DPR are unrealistic, which it is, there will be no credible contractor or developer who will bid for the tenders because of the unrealistic timelines. Has the BBMP considered the cost implications of additional TBMs?', questioned Satya Arikutharam, an independent mobility expert.
