Recently, good news came from the "New Journey" cross-river shield machine for Phase II of Line 4: the last component of the shield machine—the shield tail—has arrived at the construction site, marking the imminent completion of the shield assembly stage and the start of the countdown for the shield machine's launch.

It is understood that the large cross-river shield has a length of 120 meters and a total weight of 2,100 tons, twice the weight of an ordinary shield machine. After assembly is completed, the shield machine will be launched from the intermediate ventilation shaft on Jiangxinzhou and bore toward the north bank of the river.

The shield tunnel section from the intermediate ventilation shaft to the Jiangbei Civic Center Station has a total length of 3,062 meters and is designed as a single-tube, double-track tunnel. When the shield machine is launched at Jiangxinzhou, the overburden at the top is 26.5 meters thick; when crossing the Yangtze River, the deepest point lies 68 meters beneath the river, making it the deepest cross-river metro line in the Yangtze River Delta region.

As of May 2024, all four stations and the intermediate ventilation shaft have commenced construction, and three stations and the intermediate ventilation shaft have completed their retaining structures and main structures. Six shield tunnels have been launched and holed through.