Donghu Shield Machine Developed by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Ready for the World’s Largest Urban Underwater Tunnel Project
On June 1, the cutterhead of the Donghu Shield Machine developed by China Railway Equipment Group, a subsidiary of China Railway Hi-Tech Industry Co., Ltd. (CRHIC), was hoisted down into the well and installed in place. It will be used for excavation in Wuhan’s Lianghu Tunnel project, the largest urban underwater tunnel project in the world.
The Donghu Shield Machine is a super-large diameter mud-water-gas balance shield machine tailored by CRHIC for the Lianghu Tunnel Project—the largest-diameter double-layer underwater urban tunnel in the world. With an excavation diameter of 15.09 meters, the shield machine will be used for the tunnel construction of the 3120.3-meter section from Fengguang Village well to the Provincial Museum well.
The shield machine, equipped with advanced technologies, can quickly excavate in composite strata and better counter engineering risks under complex working conditions. It also features multiple ergonomic designs to enhance man-machine interaction, thus making operation and driving smoother and more comfortable.
CRHIC has successively built two super-large-diameter slurry shield machines—Donghu and Zhengxian—for Wuhan’s Lianghu Tunnel Project. Donghu was the first to be installed in the well.