On April 8, the "Fuhe" single-shield hard rock tunnel boring machine, the largest-diameter machine of its kind in Southwest China jointly developed by China Railway Tunnel Group and China Railway Engineering Equipment Group (CREG), rolled off the production line in Deyang, Sichuan. It will be used in the construction of the 6# construction adit of the Xianglushan Tunnel on Section Dali I of the Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project in Yunnan Province. This is also the third construction "sharp tool" that CREG has built for the Xianglushan Tunnel, following the "Yunling" and "Hongyi" hard rock TBMs.

Du Chunqiang, Party Secretary and Director of the Yunnan Provincial Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project Construction Administration; Yang Xiankui, Deputy General Manager; Li Yulong, Director of the Dali Branch; Zhang Chuanjian, Deputy Chief Engineer of Changjiang Survey, Planning, Design and Research Co., Ltd.; Liu Yong, Project Director of the 6# Adit Project of China Water Resources and Hydropower Construction Engineering Consulting Northwest Co., Ltd.; Yi Guoliang, Deputy Party Secretary and General Manager of China Railway Tunnel Group Co., Ltd.; Yang Daoyu, General Manager of China Railway Tunnel Stock Co., Ltd.; and Wang Kai, Deputy General Manager of CREG, attended the ceremony.

▲ Du Chunqiang, Party Secretary and Director of the Yunnan Provincial Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project Construction Administration, delivers a speech

▲ Yi Guoliang, Deputy Party Secretary and General Manager of China Railway Tunnel Group Co., Ltd., delivers a speech

▲ Wang Kai, Deputy General Manager of CREG, delivers a speech

▲ Pushing the machine off the production line

As a controlling works of the Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project, the Xianglushan Tunnel has a route length of about 62.596 km and a maximum burial depth of 1,450 m, making it the longest deep-buried tunnel in the project. Because it crosses the Hengduan Mountains in northwest Yunnan, known as a "geological museum," the Xianglushan Tunnel accounts for 9 of the project's ten major technical challenges, encompassing almost all geological difficulties in underground construction. Among them, the 6# construction adit of the Xianglushan Tunnel and its upstream control main tunnel, as a key section of the Xianglushan Tunnel, have a total length of 16.252 km. The project faces construction difficulties such as large-diameter long-distance tunneling, soft rock deformation, fault-fractured zones, long-distance high-pressure water-rich tunnel sections, and reverse-slope drainage for steep downhill tunneling.

To effectively address the challenges and technical difficulties faced by the project, CREG tailor-made the "Fuhe" single-shield hard rock TBM, with an excavation diameter of 10.23 m and a total length of 190 m, which will undertake the 15.5 km tunneling task of the main tunnel. The equipment is equipped with new technologies such as a two-speed reducer and high-pressure auxiliary escape system, a simultaneous thrust and segment erection system, and an efficient segment lifting system, greatly enhancing the TBM's adaptability to the complex geological conditions of this project and safeguarding safe and efficient tunnel construction.

"Building the veins of the water network for a thousand miles, diverting water from the snowy plateau, quenching the thirst of all things in Yunling, and benefiting millions of people in central Yunnan." In recent years, with its rich experience in the design and manufacture of high-end equipment and deep expertise in underground engineering construction, CREG has provided 4 TBMs and 1 earth pressure balance shield machine for the Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project, with a total tunneling mileage of nearly 57 km, providing strong support for the safe, high-quality and efficient construction of the water diversion project.