CESC Tunnel

The CESC Tunnel is situated under the Hooghly River in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. This is the first underwater tunnel in Asia, completed in 1931.[1] It is used for electric power transmission from Kolkata to Howrah.

History

This tunnel was not made by modern tunnel boring machine. It was made by simple tools like spade, shovel etc. Indian Punjabi labours were digging this tunnel and attached the cast iron rings with the tunnel wall.

Sir Harley Dalrymple-Hay was appointed head of design and construction for the project in 1928 by the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, it was the first underwater tunnel in Calcutta.[2] He and the boiler specialist John Lochrance had designed Asia's first underwater tunnel in 1928.

The construction began in March 1930. At the beginning labours dig a well on the Hooghly River side of Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah. After one month, another similar well began digging on the opposite side of Hooghly River at Metiabruz in Kolkata. The wells digging process were taken to complete in first four months. Then the main 0.539 km (0.335 mi) tunnel digging process was began from Metiabruz side, under 33.5 metres (110 ft) from the river bottom.[3]

The Asia's first underwater tunnel was finally completed in July 1931. The total construction of this tunnel took 17 months to complete. Two Indian labours and Normal Smith a British worker died during the construction.

Importance

The CESC tunnel was specially studied by the engineers of Kolkata Metro, for the construction of East West Metro Tunnel.[4] This tunnel is an important part of the electric supply system of the CESC Limited company.

References
  1. "CESC is among the country's most efficient utilities". Business Today. 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  2. "Kolkata metro: A British engineer's unrealised India underwater train". BBC News. 10 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  3. "Kolkata Metro: 87 years on, boring re-creates CESC feat". The Times of India. April 18, 2017. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  4. CESC Limited [@CESCLimited] (2014-07-24). "In 1931, CESC Ltd engineers built a tunnel under the Hooghly river which was studied for the East-West corridor of the Kolkata Metro" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2022-12-25 – via Twitter.
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