Underground—APAC—India—Tunneling
The Rohtang Tunnel: Ground Support Products by DSI Underground
for one of the World’s highest Mountain Passes
At an elevation of 3,980m, the Rohtang Pass in the Himalayas in India is one of the world’s highest drivable mountain passes.
The only connecting road from the north Indian federal state of Himachal-Pradesh to the Ladakh border region is impassable
for 4 - 6 months every year during winter.
In order to create a year-round connection,
construction of the new Rohtang Pass
Highway Tunnel located approximately
3,100m above sea level started in 2010.
The 8.8km long, horseshoe-shaped, two-lane
tunnel includes two 4m wide lanes and two 1m
wide sidewalks. Underneath the carriageway,
an emergency gallery is integrated into the
tunnel cross section. The maximum cover of
the Rohtang Tunnel is almost 1,900m.
Due to several fault zones and strongly
squeezing rock conditions, the tunnel is being
conventionally excavated in accordance with
20
the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM)
using sectional heading. The tunnel is being
exclusively driven from the two portals, south
and north, using simultaneous heading in
crown and bench/invert as well as rapid ring
closure.
DSI Underground Austria has extensive
long-term experience in the development,
production and supply of high quality ground
support products for tunneling that are
also installed in difficult conditions in high
alpine areas in Europe. Especially in these
areas, the fast & safe installation of ground
support products and their functionality have
highest priority. As one of the world’s highest
mountain passes, the Rohtang Tunnel was
a new challenge for DSI Underground.
Important ground support products for
stabilizing tunnel excavation included
rock anchors, fiber-reinforced shotcrete
etc. – depending on the different
excavation classes including the occasional
requirement for additional steel arches.
For this unique project, DSI Underground
mainly supplied the following systems from
its wide product range: