CRCHI's Pioneer TBM Achieves Breakthrough in Guangzhou Haizhu Bay Tunnel
Breakthrough on eastern line of Guangzhou Haizhu Bay TunnelThe first super large diameter municipal TBM tunnel in the Pearl River Basin - Guangzhou Haizhu Bay Tunnel project successfully achieved double-line breakthrough on July 15th. The super large diameter slurry TBM, named "Pioneer" and developed by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited (CRCHI), was applied in the project. The Pioneer was launched later, but it completed the project earlier.
Several days ahead, on July 6th, with the main body of the tunnel connecting passage TBM precisely entering the receiving sleeve, the first connecting passage of the Guangzhou Haizhu Bay Tunnel project achieved a high-precision breakthrough. This is also the first engineering application of the super-large diameter tunnel connecting passage TBM made by China. The TBM, produced by CRCHI, has an excavation diameter of 3,860 mm.
Haizhu Bay Tunnel project is the first super large diameter TBM tunnel in Guangzhou, known as "Largest TBM tunnel of Guangzhou". The total length of the route is 4.35km, including the 2,102-meters TBM section. The TBM is to pass through the fracture zone and the Pearl River Channel twice, and pass through a long-distance in mudstone, muddy siltstone formation, and undercross a group of buildings and piles.
The project has the features of a complex construction environment, with multiple tunneling control factors and high construction difficulties, so it has very high requirements for a TBM. The lengths of the total 6 connecting passages range from 14.8 meters to 18.1 m. The main tunnel segments are C60 high-strength segments; the connecting passage is buried more than 45 meters in depth, and there is a large oblique angle with the main tunnel. The connecting passage TBM needs to carry out synchronous and intersecting construction with the main tunnel TBM.
With an excavation diameter of 15.07 meters, a total length of 130 meters, and a total weight of 4,300 tons, the Pioneer Slurry TBM was assembled since February 20, 2023, and all the processes from the assembly to launching of the TBM have been completed in less than 3 months. Its launch date is 2 months later than the TBM for the western line, but it took 12 months to complete its tunneling work of the eastern line; which is one month earlier than the western line TBM. During the tunneling period, the maximum daily advance rate of the Pioneer is 16 meters and the maximum monthly advance rate is 324 meters.
The tunnel connecting passage TBM has several key core technologies such as rapid breaking of oblique intersection lining, synchronous construction layout, high-pressure sealing, rapid posture adjustment, and high-precision guidance correction. It achieved the highest daily progress of 2 ring segments, completed the oblique breaking of the C60 high-strength segments in less than 3 hours, and created a new record for cutting the main line tunnel segments.
The total investment of the Haizhu Bay Tunnel project is about 11.68 billion yuan. In the future, the Haizhu Bay Tunnel will shorten the driving time from downtown to Guangzhou South Railway Station to 15 minutes. It is scheduled to open to traffic in 2025.
