10 things you must know about the Atal Tunnel

The construction of the Atal Tunnel connecting Manali with Leh, which is the world's longest highway tunnel above 10,000 feet, has been completed in a span of 10 years. The 9-km horseshoe-shaped single-tube, double-lane tunnel has many firsts and will shorten the distance by 46 km.

Here are the interesting things

1. This is the first tunnel in India to deploy the Rowa flyer technology, which allows engineers to work at inverted levels.

2. The tunnel consumed 14,508 metric tons of steel and 2,37,596 metric tons of cement

3. Using the drill and blast technique, 14 lakh cubic meters of soil and rocks were excavated.

4. It is the country's first tunnel to have an escape tunnel within the main tunnel because of the topography. 

5. The tunnel provides a telephone facility at every 150 meters, a fire hydrant every 60 meters, emergency exit every 500 meters.

6. It also has an air quality monitoring system after every km.

7. Broadcasting system and automatic incident detection system with CCTV cameras at every 250 meters.

8. The tunnel will have a semi-transverse ventilation system, where large fans would separately circulate air throughout the tunnel length.

9. Thickness of the concrete lining is 50 cm.

10. At 10.5 meters wide and a height of 5.52 meters, a car can zip through at 80 kmph.

Study and organization tips for college students, one semester at a time

 Planning is key to having a great year at the college. Here are some tips to have a good year.

Identify due dates and plan ahead.

it's important for students to use their time wisely. After the first day of classes, go through each class syllabus to identify due dates for big papers, projects, and exams. After flagging important dates, notice when big items are due within a short time of one another. Are there two long papers due the same day? A midterm exam the day after a big presentation? Plan ahead by setting up an early "due date" for one of those items and write a to-do list with the necessary steps in order to get it done.

Make it visual. 

Despite living in a digital world, a study found that over half of college students prefer to use a paper calendar and planner to manage themselves and their time. Visual reminders help keep students on track and ensure that important deadlines aren't forgotten.

Take effective notes.

Looming test dates during the semester can be overwhelming, but taking great notes can lessen the stress. An easy tip to taking effective notes is to keep flags and page markers in different colors handy. Use the different colors to mark important sections of notes and topics to go back and review so when it comes time to study, all the important information is already flagged.

Brainstorm and organize paper topics.

Whether it's a major paper or collaborating with classmates on a group presentation, writing down information and keeping it front and center can help students think clearly.

Set goals.

Once students know their workload for the whole semester, they can start writing out weekly tasks and goals and estimate how much time is needed for each.