A large shield-tunneling machine has been expressly tailored to bore under urban areas for the south section of Xingye Express Road. It came off the production line in Changshu of Jiangsu Province on March 23 ready to be transported to Zhuhai and reassembled here.

The Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing's articulated machine was nearly two years in the making and is the first of its kind in the country. It is 15.76 m (52 ft) in diameter, has a turning radius of 600 m (1,969 ft), and weighs 4,500 tons.

"Xing Ye" shield tunneling machine with rotating cutter head and support mechanisms tailored for Xingye Express Road [Photo by Xing Jian to Guanhai App]

The 2.3-km (1.4-mile) southerly Segment II of Xingye Express Road section runs from Banzhang Mt in Ningxi to Meihua Road. The shield tunnels will go 1.74 km (1 mile) beneath urban areas of Xiangzhou. A challenge is that two shield tunnels will overlap in some sections. The machine, however, will adapt to the geological conditions, according to Hu Yuanfeng, project head with Zhuhai Huafa Group.

As of now, the vertical shaft from which to launch the tunnel borer has been mostly completed. Work is underway to ensure the transport and reassembly of the machine.

Meanwhile, work continues on the 17.4-km (10.8-mile) north section from East Meihua Road to Tangle and Hagongda roads in Tangjiawan. And the 1,700-m (1-mile) Yingbin Feeder is also advancing.

When the complete express road opens to traffic in 2022, it will facilitate north-south downtown traffic and improve access to both the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Designed with a speed limit of 60 kmph (37 mph), travel time from Tangjiawan to Jida will be cut to 10 minutes.