An ultra-large shield tunneling machine, which was expressly manufactured for the work, was lowered deeply Nov 4 into a launch shaft to drill Xingye Express Road under an urban area of New (Xin) Xiangzhou.

Tailor-made for the project, the machine has been named "Xingye." It weighs 4,500 tons and is 135 m (443 ft) long with a diameter of 15.76 m (52 ft). The cutter alone weighs 600 tons. Reassembly commenced in Zhuhai during the first half of 2021 and now rigorous debugging is required before operation, according to Zhang Yekui, construction project manager. 

Ultra-large shield tunneling machine "Xingye" is lowered into launch tunnel [Photo by Li Jianshu / Zhuhai Media Group]

This 2.3-km (1 1/2-mile) south Segment II starts at Dajingshan Community Park, will dip a mile (1.74 km) deep beneath Meihua, Xingye, Yinhua, Renmin, and Ningxi roads, and then continue via the Shijing Mt Tunnel to a bridge over Bailian Road leading to Jiuzhou Avenue and 1st Jianye Road in Jida. 

"Xingye" and an unnamed tunneling machine with a 11.73-m (38-1/2 ft) diameter will drill up and down through a complex geological environment of silty soil and liquefied sand layers, fault zones, boulders, and granite, says Zhang. The 1.74 km (1 mile) of north-south shield tunnels are to be stacked in several sections instead of parallel -- the first of its kind in China having an ultra-large diameter.

Once pened, Xingye Express Road will be 30 km (19 miles) long heading north from the Shijing Mt Tunnel via a Y-shaped structure. The north segment will connect to the 1,700-m (1-mile) Yingbin Feeder and itself is 17.4 km (10.8 miles) long from East Meihua Road to Tangle and Hagongda roads in Tangjiawan.

Travel time from Tangjiawan to Jida will be cut to 10 minutes and motorists will reach express roads in core areas of Zhuhai within 15 minutes. Xingye Express Road will eventually radially connect the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.