On May 16, as the "Jiaozhou Bay No. 12" shield machine broke through the soil, the right-line tunnel of the Luzhou Road Station–Lanzhou West Road Station section (referred to as the "Lu-Lan section") of the Qingdao Metro Line 8 Branch was successfully completed 35 days ahead of schedule, marking that the full-line breakthrough of the Line 8 Branch has officially entered the countdown.

The Lu-Lan section is a double-tube single-track tunnel constructed using the shield method, with a section length of 835 meters. The line starts from Luzhou Road Station, runs beneath Hangzhou Road, passes northward under the Yunxi River, the Hangzhou Road Experimental Primary School Bridge, and the planned Line 10 section, and then connects to Lanzhou West Road Station.

To ensure the smooth launch and tunneling of the shield machine, the construction party carefully planned and repeatedly studied each process, from equipment selection, modification, and transportation to underground assembly. By adopting a spoke-type cutterhead structure during the shield machine modification, the cutterhead opening ratio was increased, solving a series of problems such as the tendency to form mud cakes when the shield machine passes through strongly weathered mudstone, and ensuring good equipment operating performance. At the same time, by modifying the electric locomotive anti-drowsiness pedal and the pneumatic interlocking brake system, and adding anti-rollback hook devices and section anti-rollback car stoppers to prevent accidental rolling of the electric locomotive, and by using digital and intelligent means to strengthen tunneling safety management and technical control, through real-time monitoring, data analysis, and other means, the safety and stability of shield construction were ensured.

During the shield tunneling process, the construction party closely combined the engineering characteristics, carefully organized construction, and strengthened on-site management. By monitoring the tunneling posture of the shield machine in real time, operating the shield propulsion in zones according to the soft and hard distribution of the strata, setting the thrust and advance speed, and simultaneously conducting intensified monitoring of the surrounding environment such as the road surface, buildings, and pipelines, precise control of the shield posture and ground settlement was achieved. At the same time, special efforts were carried out on safety control and discussion of segment precasting and assembly standards to ensure that the segment floating amount and stratum loss rate remained stable during construction, achieving the goals of a formed tunnel with no leakage and segment assembly misalignment within 3 mm, helping to safeguard shield construction with high quality.

During the shield receiving preparation period, the construction party strictly conducted safety training, strengthened on-site briefings, organized emergency drills, and focused on strengthening receiving safety guarantees. By refining shield construction standards and strictly controlling this shield receiving according to Level I risk standards, and using a visualized construction management platform to carry out information-based management of the entire shield tunneling construction process, tunneling parameters were adjusted in a timely manner to ensure smooth construction and successfully complete the breakthrough task of the right line of the Lu-Lan section. At present, of the 15 shield machines planned for the Qingdao Metro Line 8 Branch, 14 have been successfully launched, and cumulative shield tunneling has exceeded 10,000 meters.