On July 22, the left tube of the Chaoyang Tunnel on the Wuxi–Yunyang–Kaizhou Expressway was holed through, marking the completion of twin-tube breakthrough for the longest tunnel on the Wuxi–Yunyang–Kaizhou Expressway.

Chaoyang Tunnel on the Wuxi–Yunyang–Kaizhou Expressway holed through

The Wuxi–Yunyang–Kaizhou Expressway project starts in Wuxi County seat, passes through Yunyang County, and ends in Kaizhou District, with a total length of 118.62 km. The Chaoyang Tunnel is one of the control works of the expressway and is an extra-long tunnel, starting in Chaoyang Town, Wuxi County, and ending in Shangba Township, Yunyang County. Its left tube is 5,110 m long and its right tube is 5,132 m long; the right tube was holed through on July 6.

During construction of the Chaoyang Tunnel, the project team overcame the effects of gas, landslides, karst, underground rivers, weak large deformation and rockbursts in high in-situ stress sections, as well as groundwater and geotechnical corrosion. By deploying high-tech equipment such as fully computerized three-boom drill jumbos and arch installation trolleys, and through refined management and flexible resource allocation, the team ensured dual control of project quality and progress, completing construction 8 months ahead of the construction schedule.

During construction, the average monthly advance of the tunnel reached 143 m, and the maximum monthly advance in the arch section reached 168.3 m. At present, the overall progress of Section B1 of the Wuxi–Yunyang–Kaizhou Expressway is advancing steadily. The Chaoyang Tunnel is expected to be fully handed over by the end of October and to meet the conditions for opening to traffic by the end of the year.