Shield tunnelling tech success at Chongtai Yangtze River Tunnel

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.

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.