Recently, the cutterhead of the "CSCEC Fangbai No. 13" shield machine started smoothly, launching the tunneling task for the left line of the section from Guangbai Shield Shaft to Baiyun Station on the Fangcun–Baiyun Airport Intercity Railway. This is also the first shield machine to launch in this section.

The section from Guangbai Shield Shaft to Baiyun Station is about 2.93 kilometers long, with a minimum horizontal curve radius of 1,300 meters and a maximum gradient of 24‰. Five cross passages are arranged along the route, and two earth pressure/slurry dual-mode shield machines are used for tunneling. The shield machine sets off from the large-chainage end of the Guangbai Shield Shaft, passes through the viaduct area and densely built-up area, then enters Fukang Road and proceeds north along it. During this period, it needs to pass beneath the under-construction Metro Line 12 and finally reaches Baiyun Station. The geological conditions in this section are complex, including moderately weathered calcareous mudstone, strongly weathered carbonaceous limestone, moderately weathered carbonaceous limestone, and slightly weathered carbonaceous limestone, among other strata. Karst development is intense, with a cave encounter rate as high as 61.2%, and the largest cave height can reach 20.6 meters.

Faced with multiple challenges such as narrow construction sites, great launch shaft depth, complex geological conditions, and proximity to major risk sources, Guangzhou Metro, together with the contractor China State Construction and the supervision unit Xi'an Railway First Survey and Design Institute Engineering Consulting Company, actively optimized the site layout. The slurry station adopts assembled slurry tanks and places the clean water tank beneath the screening machine, making full use of vertical space and successfully solving the problem of a narrow site. Due to limited underground space, the shield also adopts split-launch technology, placing some shield gantries on the ground and directly connecting the slurry circulation system of the underground shield machine to the ground slurry station through a simple pipe-connecting machine. After the shield machine launches and tunnels to free up space, the remaining gantries are hoisted underground and the slurry circulation system is installed.

In response to geological problems, the builders carried out detailed supplementary geological exploration work and adopted grouting pretreatment measures for discovered karst caves. In karst strata, HSP advanced geological radar and an integrated advanced drilling and grouting machine are specially equipped to accurately predict geological conditions, optimize tunneling parameters according to different geological conditions, and reinforce potential risk sources in advance to ensure construction safety.

Up to now, the civil engineering works of the Fangcun–Baiyun Airport North Intercity Railway have been completed by 24% cumulatively. Of the 10 stations, 1 has been topped out, 8 are under civil construction, and the remaining 1 is in preliminary preparation; of the 10 sections, 7 are under civil construction, and the other 3 are carrying out pre-construction preparation; the depot access lines II, III, and IV are under civil construction, and a total of 15 shield machines are tunneling.