Shanhe tunnel boring machine
The Shanhe tunnel boring machine is a tunnel boring machine installed to bore a road tunnel under China's Yellow River.[1][2]
It will carry three lanes of traffic north, and three lanes of traffic south, on two decks of a 17 metres (56 ft) tunnel.[1][2]
Like other tunnel boring machines drilling through water-logged soil the area around the cutter-head is kept under high pressure, with a Bentonite slurry, to balance the pressure of the water, buried under tens of meters of overburden.[1][2] When cutter heads require maintenance workers have to don the same kind of protective hard-shelled pressure suits worn by deep-sea divers.
Although Chinese authorities claim Shanhe is the world's largest tunnel boring machine, both Big Bertha and Martina, were larger.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sun Yu (2024-12-20). "世界最大直径水下盾构隧道掘进破千米" [The world's largest diameter underwater shield tunnel has been excavated for more than 1,000 meters]. 中国科技网 (Science and Technology Daily) (in 中文). Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
"Mega project in China: 17.5-meter TBM "Shanhe" is ready for construction site". Herrenknecht AG. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
Herrenknecht has built a Mixshield tunnel boring machine (TBM) for the construction of a two-storey road tunnel with three lanes in both directions in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan. The Mixshield technology is designed for the extreme conditions of the upcoming undercrossing of the Yellow River.