In July 2021, a special tender came across the ocean. An Egyptian client intended to purchase a 3200mm large-diameter pipe jacking machine for a municipal project.

The client issued a global "hero's call" to pipe jacking machine manufacturers. However, because of the machine's large diameter and high risk, most peer manufacturers took a wait-and-see attitude. The XCMG Pipe Jacking Machinery Research Institute gladly accepted the "challenge" and submitted the optimal configuration proposal for the XCMG XDN3200-R pipe jacking machine.      

01. Answering the Call and Breaking New Ground   Winning the Egyptian Order

After two months of bid opening and competitive bidding, the XCMG XDN3200-R pipe jacking machine won the order with an absolute advantage. But no sooner had one "Loushan Pass" been crossed than XCMG's technical personnel encountered a new "Lazikou": a delivery period of only 60 days.

The XDN3200-R pipe jacking machine has a maximum outer diameter of 4.06m, and the cutterhead alone weighs 90t. Even with a mature R&D system and a solid technical foundation in pipe jacking machines, XCMG's technical personnel knew well that, faced with this "big guy," this was not only "innovation" but also "breaking new ground." Building on accumulated experience, this time they needed to combine technology, courage, and strength, emancipate their minds, and practice boldly.

There was no R&D experience with large-diameter pipe jacking machines, nor any experience at home or abroad to draw on, so it seemed there was no place to start. But everyone in the project team was determined: if there is no experience, we will create it!

According to the configuration proposal submitted with the bid, project team members repeatedly checked data, adjusted structures, and revised drawings, carefully deliberating over every detail—the machine's power configuration, the layout of the cutterhead and cutting tools for different strata, and material consumption—to ensure that this big guy could "drill in, stay stable, and work efficiently," handling both soft and hard ground while being finely engineered. After many nights of hard work, a highly cost-effective XDN3200-R pipe jacking machine took shape on paper.

02. Racing Against Time   Working Day and Night to Meet the Schedule

Although the design drawings were delivered with high quality, turning them into reality was still a difficult hurdle. With a tight schedule, all structural parts and performance had to be excellent on the first try. But the National Day holiday plus power rationing policies delayed the arrival of large structural parts at the factory by a week.

Excluding painting and transportation time, less than a week was left for assembly and debugging. Technical personnel provided on-site guidance, the manufacturing center deployed its best workers, and all departments urgently coordinated, breaking the traditional production model, with tooling, lifting gear, oils, and power supply on standby at all times.

On cold winter nights, the pipe jacking machine assembly workshop was brightly lit, running around the clock. The assembly workers smiled and said, "No problem, we're young and can handle the big night shifts." Everyone worked together, and the assembly process proceeded intensely but in an orderly manner.

Still, some minor problems inevitably occurred from time to time: the seal ring, nearly 700mm in diameter, had five layers and was very tight to assemble; the sealing end cover was very hard to pry even with a copper bar, and the seal could easily be damaged with the slightest carelessness. The manufacturing department ultimately decided to do it purely by hand, using nuts and wrenches to tighten the end cover turn by turn. After three and a half hours, they finally cracked this "hard nut."

On November 10, after several days and nights of hard work and debugging, the XDN3200-R pipe jacking machine was loaded onto the ship on schedule. Everyone involved in the project wore a gratified smile, reluctant to let it go as if watching a "bride about to be married."

In today's world, where major changes unseen in a century are accelerating, scientific and technological innovation has become the main battlefield of international strategic competition. XCMG uses scientific and technological innovation to generate new development momentum, shapes new competitive advantages in the market across the board, and has achieved a leap from nothing to something and from catching up to leading the pack, creating one "Chinese business card" after another for high-end intelligent manufacturing equipment "going global."