On May 27, the cutterhead of the "Yuedong No. 15" TBM broke through the rock and emerged from the tunnel at the northern foot of Qingshan Village, Xilu Town, Chaoyang District, marking the successful breakthrough of the TBM tunnel along the entire line of the subsequent optimization project for the Hanjiang-Rongjiang-Lianjiang river system interconnection, laying a solid foundation for the Chaoyang branch trunk line to be supplied with water on schedule.

The subsequent optimization project for the Hanjiang-Rongjiang-Lianjiang river system interconnection is an important component of Guangdong Province's "five vertical and five horizontal" backbone water resource allocation network, with an estimated total investment of 10.118 billion yuan, a total water conveyance route of approximately 71.65 kilometers, and a total construction period of 40 months. It is invested in, constructed, and operated by Guangdong Yuehai Group. Among its components, the TBM tunnel consists of a buried pipe connection section, an inlet drill-and-blast tunnel section, a TBM excavation tunnel section, and an outlet drill-and-blast tunnel section, with a total length of approximately 4.11 kilometers, and is the critical route of the Chaoyang branch trunk line.

"The 'Yuedong No. 15' TBM was successfully launched at the end of July last year, advancing an average of 14 meters per day, with a maximum single-day advance of 25.2 meters, maintaining high construction efficiency," said Cheng Zhirong, general manager of the Chaoyang Management Department of Yuedong Water Supply. In response to challenges such as TBM excavation in extremely hard rock environments and crossing fault fracture zones, Yuedong Water Supply took the lead in organizing experts for repeated demonstrations and, starting from equipment selection, customized the "Yuedong No. 15" double-shield TBM for the project. At the same time, based on the tunnel's geological conditions, the construction plan was optimized to increase the length of TBM excavation and shorten the length of drill-and-blast construction.

Up to now, 14 of the 15 shield machines (including TBMs) for the subsequent optimization project for the Hanjiang-Rongjiang-Lianjiang river system interconnection have been launched, and the TBM tunnel and the shield-driven sections from GX10 to GX11 and from GX14 to GX13 have achieved breakthrough. "The project is expected to be ready for water supply in early 2026. Once completed, it will increase the average annual water supply by 311 million cubic meters for more than 8.5 million people in eastern Guangdong, helping to solve the region's resource-related and engineering-related water shortages and accelerating the 'Hundred Counties, Thousand Towns, Ten Thousand Villages Project,'" said Xu Yun, executive manager of the construction section 5 project of the subsequent optimization project for the Hanjiang-Rongjiang-Lianjiang river system interconnection. After the TBM tunnel breakthrough, full efforts will be made on the secondary lining of the tunnel to ensure that all tasks are completed as planned.