The super-large shield tunneling machine "Xingye" completed drilling a total length of 200 m (219 yd) and installation of the 100th ring segment of the south part of Xingye Express on Aug 10, laying a solid foundation for the project's subsequent drilling operations.

Each prefabricated ring segment piece of the tunnel is assembled every 2 m (2 yd) of the Xingye Express, serving as the innermost barrier of the tunnel to form its structure, retaining soil and water, while preventing collapses.

Construction site of the main line tunnel of Xingye Express Road [Photo courtesy Zhuhai Daily]

Customized for the Xingye Express Road project by the constructor CCCC Tunnel Engineering, "Xingye" was launched in April for tunneling work of the main line tunnel that begins under Xingye Road, north of Yinhua Road. It will continue through a 1,739-m (1,902-yd) complex geological environment in downtown Zhuhai, which consists of silty soil, as well as liquefied sand layers, fault zones, boulders, and granite.

While "Xingye" is driving the main line tunneling work, another unnamed tunneling machine that has an 11.73-m (38-1/2 ft) diameter is doing the tunneling work for a ramp tunnel, collectively working towards completion of China's largest overlapped tunnel project in terms of diameter.

Zhuhai currently is aiming to improve its transportation efficiency, speeding up planning and construction of strategic passages like the link lines of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, as well as the west extension of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to accelerate efforts to turn the city into a national comprehensive transportation hub.

The Xingye Express will connect with the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, Gaoxin Interchange, and north extension of the Jinqin Express in the north via Gangwan Avenue, Meihua Road, and Jiuzhou Avenue. The express will be further extended south to connect with the HZMB, becoming an important node in Zhuhai's "Eight Horizontal & 11 Vertical" express road network.