On May 9, the cutterhead of "Xiangshan No. 1", the first shield tunneling machine for the Nansha-Zhongshan Intercity Railway (Zhongshan Section), was successfully lifted and lowered into the shaft at the construction site of the NZZ-2 bid section of the Nansha-Zhongshan Intercity Railway undertaken by Chengtong Company of China Railway No. 2 Engineering Group. As the shield cutterhead bearing the "Southern Lion" totem slowly descended under the precise coordination of a 400t crawler crane and was accurately positioned at the predetermined installation location, the assembly of the cutterhead and shield body was successfully completed, marking that the project is about to embark on a brand-new journey of shield launching.

The Nansha-Zhongshan Intercity Railway is a major artery of the Greater Bay Area that connects Zhongshan externally to the west bank of the Pearl River and internally to the city's major transportation networks. It is the first rail transit project capable of achieving interconnection and interoperability between the Greater Bay Area intercity network and the Guangzhou Metro network. Once completed, the project will play a significant role in promoting the densification of the urban rail transit network in Zhongshan and the Greater Bay Area, integrating the rail transit networks on the east and west banks of the Pearl River Estuary, connecting the Guangzhou Metro network with the transportation hubs on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta, and further enhancing the city's overall capacity.

As the first shield tunneling machine for the Zhongshan Section of the Nansha-Zhongshan Intercity Railway, "Xiangshan No. 1" has a maximum excavation diameter of 8.83 meters, a total length of 136 meters, and a total weight of 1,329.4 tons. The "Southern Lion" totem painted on the cutterhead originates from a cutterhead design solicitation campaign organized by the Zhongshan Municipal Transport Bureau. After more than a month of artwork solicitation, preliminary selection, online voting, and expert review, the "Southern Lion" totem stood out for its unique design and rich spiritual connotations, and was finally successfully painted on the cutterhead of the first shield tunneling machine after 9 days. It conveys to society the strategic spirit of the Zhongshan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government of "eastward integration, westward connection, southward linkage, and northward convergence", and also opens a new chapter in building a "Beautiful Zhongshan, a Hotspot for Investment".

It is reported that due to factors such as site and environmental conditions, this cutterhead lifting task was relatively difficult. Since entering the site for assembly on April 28, the project has deployed an assembly team of 24 people. By rehearsing the assembly process in advance and strictly conducting safety training and technical briefings, they successively completed the lowering and assembly of the No. 1-2 trolleys, the connecting bridge, the screw conveyor, the shield body (front, middle, and tail), and the cutterhead. To ensure smooth lifting, the project management team made thorough arrangements and careful organization before lifting, held multiple expert review meetings, continuously improved the special construction plan and emergency response plan, and carried out regular safety production inspections. They also strictly implemented safety and technical briefings for management personnel and workers entering the site, ensuring the effective implementation of all safety control measures.

Next, the project will enter the final assembly stage of the shield tail and simultaneously carry out the connection of various circuits of the shield tunneling machine, subsystem commissioning, and overall machine joint debugging and testing, sprinting toward the launching milestone.