On July 27, the second shield tunneling machine for the Hangzhou Airport High-Speed Railway, named "Linghang Hao" (Pilot), rolled off the production line in Changsha, Hunan Province.

The shield machine has a cutterhead excavation diameter of 14.3 meters and will be used for the longest shield tunnel in China that passes beneath an airport taxiway — the Xiaoshan Airport East Tunnel of the Hangzhou Airport High-Speed Railway.

The Xiaoshan Airport East Tunnel of the Hangzhou Airport High-Speed Railway is designed for a speed of 250 km/h and is a single-tube, double-track tunnel constructed using both the cut-and-cover method and the shield method. It is a key and difficult project. The shield-driven section is 4,068.7 meters long and passes over a long distance beneath numerous residential buildings, rivers, Metro Line 7, the Airport Express Line, Xiaoshan Airport taxiways, VIP Hall No. 4, and alongside Terminal T1 and other important structures and buildings. High-risk sections account for 75.4% of the total shield length.

The "Linghang Hao" shield machine is about 126 meters long with a total weight of about 3,100 tons. The machine will traverse 3,250 meters of soft silty soil strata, making attitude control of the shield machine and ground settlement control highly difficult. The Hangzhou Airport High-Speed Railway will carry out shield tunneling after reinforcing the base soil. The shield machine will also pass beneath a 535-meter-long 4F-class Xiaoshan Airport taxiway, where the minimum vertical clearance between the taxiway and the top of the high-speed rail tunnel is only 10.48 meters. During implementation, safe, practical and reliable measures will be taken in light of actual conditions to reinforce the soil and minimize the impact of the shield machine on the airport taxiway.

In response to the key and difficult aspects of constructing the tunnel beneath the airport, the Hangzhou Airport High-Speed Railway has carried out a series of technical innovations for "Linghang Hao," equipping it with advanced navigation systems, a large-opening-ratio cutterhead, a slurry circulation system, a simultaneous dual-liquid grouting system, a ventilation and cooling system, an in-chamber visual monitoring system, an advanced geological prediction system, a high-precision gas-liquid balance system and a series of intelligent systems to ensure safe, precise and rapid tunneling. After rolling off the production line, the shield machine will be disassembled and transported to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, for on-site assembly and commissioning.

The shield machine is named "Linghang Hao," also known as "Linghang Hao" (Leading Hangzhou). As China's first and longest shield machine to pass beneath an operating airport taxiway, it not only represents a firm commitment to leading the upgrade of Hangzhou's transportation network, but also symbolizes the city's relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence. It carries Hangzhou's transportation dream as an international metropolis, leading the city's transportation network to a higher level with a pioneering posture.