On the morning of May 11, the world's longest underwater highway shield tunnel project—the Haitai Yangtze River Tunnel—reached an important milestone. At the command of the on-site chief commander, the giant cutterhead of the "Cangyuan" shield machine, China's largest-diameter shield machine, weighing 481.5 tons, was successfully lifted and lowered into the shaft by a 1,600-ton crawler crane from Zoomlion, marking another key step forward in the project's construction.

△Zoomlion crawler crane hoists the cutterhead of China's largest-diameter shield machine

It is understood that the Haitai Yangtze River Tunnel is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province and is by far the world's longest underwater highway shield tunnel. The "Cangyuan" shield machine, tasked with excavating the left-line river-crossing passage, sets a new record for domestically produced super-large-diameter shield machines. Its core component, the cutterhead, consists of one central block and six edge segments, with a total weight of approximately 481.5 tons—equivalent to the weight of 100 African elephants—and an excavation diameter of 16.66 meters, equivalent to the height of a five-story building. Assembling and operating such an ultra-wide, ultra-heavy giant cutterhead in the narrow underground space presents considerable difficulty and risk.

At 9:58 on the 11th, under the traction of the main hoisting equipment—the Zoomlion ZCC18000 crawler crane—the giant cutterhead of the "Cangyuan" was slowly lifted, adjusted to the appropriate angle, and then lowered vertically to precisely reach the bottom of the 30-meter-deep launch shaft. After careful adjustment, the cutterhead was smoothly embedded into the main body of the shield machine; the entire lowering process took about 3 hours. This marks the basic completion of assembly of the major components and lays a solid foundation for the launch of the shield machine on the tunnel's left line.

Previously, the cutterhead hoisting and lowering operation for another super-machine on the project, the "Jianghai" shield machine, was also completed by the Zoomlion ZCC18000 crawler crane. This product breaks the traditional construction method model for crawler cranes and achieves an innovative breakthrough in operating mode, with powerful performance, safety, efficiency, and reliable stability, earning it the reputation of a "hoisting tool for both sea and land."

△The Zoomlion ZCC18000 crawler crane is performing the hoisting

The Haitai Yangtze River Tunnel is expected to be basically completed in 2028. Once completed, it will be of great significance for implementing the national strategies of integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and for promoting the cross-river integrated development of urban agglomerations along the Yangtze. As a pillar of the nation's major equipment, Zoomlion will continue to inject vigorous strength into super engineering projects with various types of equipment featuring leading technology and outstanding quality.