First Full Span Box Girder Launched in Maharashtra for Bullet Train Corridor

First Full Span Box Girder Launched in Maharashtra for Bullet Train Corridor

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has successfully launched the first Full Span Pre-Stressed Concrete (PSC) Box Girder of 40 meters in the Maharashtra section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train corridor, at Sakhare Village, Dahanu (Maharashtra).

The Maharashtra section of the corridor is 156 km long which includes

* An underground station at Bandra Kurla Complex (Mumbai)

* 21 km long tunnel between Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai and Shilphata in Thane

* 135 km of elevated alignment from Shilphata till Zaroli village (MH-GJ border), which includes:

A. 124 km viaduct comprising of

* 103 km viaduct comprising of 2,575 FSLM girders

* 17 km by Segmental girders

* 2.3 km Steel Bridges over National Highways, DFCC, Indian Railways and bridge over Ulhas River

* 1.3 km in 3 bullet train stations at Thane, Virar, and Boisar

B. 11 km comprising of

* 6 km for 7 mountain tunnels

* 5 km of Special earth structures

Each 40-meter-long PSC Box Girder weighs around 970 metric tonnes, making it the heaviest in India’s construction industry. These girders are cast as a single monolithic unit—without construction joints—using 390 cubic meters of concrete and 42 metric tonnes of steel.

Full-span girders are preferred for Bullet Train project, as they enable construction progress up to 10 times faster than segmental girders.

The full-span pre-cast box girders are being launched using specialized indigenous heavy machinery such as Straddle Carriers, Bridge Launching Gantries, Girder Transporters, and Launching Gantries. To ensure uninterrupted supply, girders are being cast in advance and systematically stacked in dedicated casting yards.

A total of 13 casting yards are planned along the alignment between Shilphata and the Gujarat-Maharashtra border, out of which 5 are currently operational.