In recent years, centering on the strategic goal of "building a transportation powerhouse, with railways leading the way" in railway construction, CRCHI has taken concrete actions to implement the strategic plan of "vigorously advancing innovation-driven development and promoting a new round of upgrading in railway engineering construction technology."

Risks in High-Altitude Tunnel Construction

To mitigate risks such as high altitude, rockbursts, karst, high geothermal heat, and toxic and harmful gases during plateau railway tunnel construction, CRCHI has developed the first set of remote control systems for railway tunnel construction.

Built on a new-generation communication bearer network and integrating technologies such as the Internet of Things and the Internet, the system forms a three-in-one collaborative interaction architecture for tunnel equipment fleets spanning "underground, surface, and cloud." Specifically, the underground layer mainly consists of intelligent complete sets of equipment for large-scale drill-and-blast tunnel construction, responsible for operations such as advanced support, drill-and-blast excavation, initial support, and secondary lining; it collects operation and environmental data and transmits them to the surface via the network. The surface layer deploys the remote control system, which issues commands to the underground equipment and also serves as the core node for deep data processing and relay to the cloud. The cloud layer builds an intelligent interconnected equipment collaborative management platform, enabling interoperability of surrounding rock data, design data, construction data, and quality data among roles such as equipment, construction, design, execution, supervision, and equipment manufacturers.

Vehicle-Mounted Integrated Remote Control System

Unmanned Construction Site of Intelligent Rock Drilling Jumbo

Through continuous exploration and overcoming difficulties, CRCHI ultimately developed two configurations of remote control products: vehicle-mounted integrated and indoor integrated. The vehicle-mounted type can be flexibly adapted for multiple working faces within a single contract section and can quickly move behind the invert trestle or outside the tunnel, enabling ad-hoc networking of equipment fleets and remote control. The indoor integrated type can be installed in fixed locations such as the informatization room at the tunnel portal, fully mapping equipment operating habits 1:1, remotely controlling equipment travel and operation, and achieving fully real-time, uninterrupted monitoring of equipment and construction status.

Vehicle-Mounted Integrated Remote Operation by Personnel

Indoor Integrated Remote Operation by Personnel

On June 22, China Railway Construction Corporation held the "Smart Construction On-Site Promotion Meeting" at the Kangding No. 2 Tunnel, where CRCHI's remote control system made its stunning debut. Equipment operators sat at clean and comfortable physical operating platforms to conduct remote control demonstrations. Various construction units observed on site and gave high praise, considering CRCHI's remote control system a major breakthrough in achieving fewer-person and unmanned smart tunnel construction, building a strong safety barrier for high-altitude tunnel construction.

To promote a qualitative breakthrough in smart tunnel construction, CRCHI will further enhance the real-time performance, immersion, and operability of the remote control system, reduce personnel numbers, improve operational precision, ensure construction safety and efficiency, and support fewer-person and unmanned smart tunnel construction.