Chongtai Yangtze River Tunnel shield tunnelling site. Credit: China Railway Tunnel Group/Business Wire.

China’s intelligent shield tunnelling technology has been successfully implemented in the Chongtai Yangtze River Tunnel, marking an advancement on the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway project.

After surpassing 2km, the shield tunnel intelligent construction V2.0 system was integrated into the Pioneer shield machine to improve efficiency and construction quality of the tunnel.

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Managed by Shanghai-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway Passenger Transport and constructed by China Railway Tunnel Group, the tunnel has a single-hole double-track design.

The Pioneer shield machine has completed more than 2.6km of excavation, autonomously navigating the Yangtze River knifefish germplasm resource protection area with “attended but unmanned” operation.

The Chongtai Yangtze River Tunnel will allow high-speed trains to cross the Yangtze River without deceleration, creating a new fast link between the Shanghai and Nanjing metropolitan areas.

It is also expected to support the Belt and Road initiative and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.

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The tunnel, spanning 14.25km with a 13.2km long shield section, is designed for trains travelling at 350km/h and is claimed to be the fastest underwater tunnel globally.

With a shield diameter of 15.4m and outer tunnel segment diameter of 14.8m, it is also claimed to be the largest diameter high-speed rail shield tunnel in the world.

Situated at the Yangtze River’s deepest point, with a maximum water pressure of 0.9Mpa, the tunnel connects Chongming District in Shanghai with Taicang City in Jiangsu Province. It has a single-headed excavation distance of 11.32km.

The project has included the development and application of nine major intelligent construction technologies.

An intelligent factory for automated shield tunnel and arc segment production has been established.

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