Recently, the dual-line breakthrough ceremony for the shield tunnels of the Nanjing Jianning West Road river-crossing passage was held on Jianning Road in Gulou District. With the smooth dual-line breakthrough of the shield tunnels, the passage is one step closer to its 2025 opening target.

In recent years, to further enhance Nanjing's capacity as a national central city and support integrated cross-river development, Nanjing has planned and promoted a large number of major transportation projects. It has planned 28 river-crossing passages for highways, railways, and urban rail transit, of which 13 have been completed and 4 are under construction. The main city's "grid-plus-outer-ring" expressway network has been closed into a complete system, significantly improving the quality of urban functions.

The Nanjing Jianning West Road river-crossing passage is a major urban development project during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The project is located between the Yangtze River Bridge and the Yangzijiang Tunnel, about 1.8 kilometers from the upstream Yangzijiang Tunnel and about 2.4 kilometers from the downstream Yangtze River Bridge. It is an important link connecting the main city's Gulou District with the core area of Jiangbei New Area, with a total length of about 6.8 kilometers, including a tunnel section of about 3.55 kilometers. The section crossing the Yangtze River is constructed by the shield method, with a shield section of about 2,362 meters. Three interchanges are set along the route at its intersections with Jiangbei Avenue, Hengjiang Avenue, and Huimin Road, among which the Hengjiang Avenue and Huimin Road interchanges are fully underground. Construction of the Jianning West Road river-crossing passage officially began in March 2020. The left-line shield machine "Chuangxin" and the right-line shield machine "Jianning" were launched in August 2021 and November 2021, respectively. On October 20, 2023, the left-line shield tunnel broke through; on October 24, the right-line shield successfully passed beneath the Metro Line 5 station; and on November 16, the right line began preparations for shield reception. Through meticulous organization, refined construction, and strict monitoring, all processes—including removal of the right-line portal, shield tunneling, and portal sealing—were successfully completed.

Fan Yesong, project manager of the A2 bid section of the Nanjing Jianning West Road river-crossing passage at Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd. of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd., introduced that the Jianning West Road river-crossing passage is one of the most difficult shield tunnels under construction in China today. A super-large-diameter shield machine with a diameter of 15.07 meters passes through highly permeable sand layers, mixed soft-hard composite strata, wide fault fracture zones, and other complex geological conditions. At the same time, during construction it was necessary to cut through the anti-slide pile group on the south bank of the Yangtze River and pass beneath the Metro Line 5 station. In particular, the shield cutting through the reinforced concrete anti-slide pile group on the south bank of the Yangtze River was the first case of its kind in China, with no previous experience to draw on, making construction extremely difficult.

A relevant person in charge of the Nanjing Public Works Construction Center stated that, as an important component of Nanjing's "high-grade expressway system," the Jianning West Road river-crossing passage will effectively relieve pressure on trunk river-crossing traffic and improve convenience between the core area of Jiangbei New Area and the riverside main urban area of Gulou in Jiangnan. As the river-crossing passage closest to the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, it will then take only 15 minutes to drive from Jiangbei Avenue to Zhongyangmen.