Microtunneling: India set new standard in pipeline history, says Hardeep Puri

New Delhi, Aug 4 In a remarkable engineering feat, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday hailed the successful microtunneling operation under Assam’s Beki River as a breakthrough that sets a new benchmark in pipeline construction.

Overcoming years of technical hurdles with one of the world’s most advanced machines, the Herrenknecht AVN 1600 MTBM, engineers completed in just 28 days what had previously seemed impossible — reviving India's oldest cross-country pipeline, which fuels the development of Northeast India.

"Courage and innovation make the impossible possible. Microtunneling.....an excellent technique, no digging, no damage on the surface.....only precision and that too deep under the river!," the Union Minister wrote on X, praising the milestone.

According to the minister, before resorting to microtunneling, traditional technologies such as open-cut and suspension methods were tested to achieve the goal, but it proved difficult to find a solution in the riverbed using these methods.

"Traditional techniques like Open Cut, HDD, Suspension were tried but no solution was found in the river bed.....then one of the world's most advanced microtunneling machines Herrenknecht AVN 1600 MTBM challenged the challenge itself and completed the work of the pipeline under the river in a very short time," the Minister stated.

Indian has a cross-country pipeline under the Beki River in Assam. The 434-kilometre-long pipeline has been a lifeline for the northeastern estate for over 6 decades.

"India's oldest cross-country pipeline passes under the Beki River of Assam. Giving a new lease of life to this 434 km long power line, which has been the heartbeat of development of Northeast India for the last 60 years, has become a big engineering challenge," the minister said.

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