MSRDC begins rockfall-mesh work at Mumbai-Pune Missing Link

A boulder fall near the mouth of Tunnel 2 halted traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Missing Link for nearly 20 hours on July 6. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has begun fitting Swiss-made iron mesh on the affected hillside to contain future rockfalls.

About 15% of the work is complete, an MSRDC official said. Navyuga Engineering Company Ltd, which executed this section of the Missing Link project, is carrying out the installation.

MSRDC said IIT Bombay recommended the protection design. The mesh and secondary barriers are intended to hold back rocks before they reach the road. MSRDC says the system is designed to arrest boulders of up to 2,500 metric tonnes falling from 52 metres in test conditions.

MSRDC said heavy rain preceded the July rockfall and that the area received about 670 mm of rainfall. Rock bolting has been undertaken up to around 15 metres on a hillside that rises nearly 150 metres.

The Missing Link bypasses the older winding stretch between Khopoli and Kusgaon, reducing it from about 19 km to 13.3 km. MSRDC expects the project to shorten the Mumbai-Pune Expressway journey by around six kilometres and 20 to 25 minutes.