Chennai (Kanchipuram) 

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has flagged off the L&T-built Full Span Launching Equipment at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Kanchipuram, some 50 km from Chennai that has been developed for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project. The virtual flag-off happened in the presence of Satish Agnihotri, Managing Director, National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd, Miyamoto Shingo, Minister of Economic Section, Embassy of Japan, New Delhi, S N Subrahmanyan, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, L&T, and other senior members of the L&T management team.  

Considering the enormous scale of construction involved in constructing the 508-km long, Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor project, of which L&T’s share is 63%, there is a need to adopt innovative, state-of-the-art construction techniques and methodologies to hasten the pace of execution. The full span launch equipment comprising first-of-their-kind Straddle Carriers and Girder Transporters will transport and erect full span girders as a single piece for the double track. The 40-m long girders weighing 975 MT will be the heaviest PSC box girders to be precast and erected in India’s construction industry. 

“This is a true reflection of our alignment to the spirit of building an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” said Subrahmanyan, at the launch. “Both these equipment have been entirely designed and developed in-house and, most pertinently, customized to the specific requirements of the High Speed Rail project that is by far the largest EPC project ever to be awarded in India. There are several challenges to build at such speed and scale, but we are committed to take on this mammoth challenge to deliver India’s first high speed rail project in time and to quality.” 

S V Desai, Whole Time Director & Senior Executive Vice President (Civil Infrastructure), L&T, added, “Although such equipment is readily available in several global markets, we felt it would be strategically more beneficial for us to build it indigenously in partnership with MSMEs (Micro Small Medium Enterprises), and an important step towards making India self-reliant. Our manufacturing facilities have been adequately geared up to deliver such critical equipment that is critical for delivery, and there are more such innovations on the anvil, to help us deliver this prestigious project.” 

A few technology points about the full span launching equipment: