On 23rd April, during the course of a visit to China by the German Minister of Economy and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, a contract was signed in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, for the delivery of two Herrenknecht 15.76m diameter Mixshield TBMs to the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co Ltd (STEC), for a large multifunctional tunnel in Wuhan, central China.
The machines will cross under the Yangtze River and create a twin-bore double-decker tunnel. A three-lane road will run on the upper deck, with metro line 7 below. The 2,590m long tunnel alignment runs up to 39.5m below the water surface in extremely complex soil. On the one hand, a high water pressure of 5.3bar must be dealt with. In addition, the tunnel runs through varying geological formations, partly completely sand and clay, partly a mixed geology with mudstone, conglomerates and sand. With its size and multipurpose use the construction represents a major reference project for mechanized tunnelling worldwide.
The 10 million metropolis of Wuhan is the most important transport hub in central China. By 2017 the metro network of 3 lines will be extended to 7, from the current 73km to 215km in length.
In the past customer STEC has already completed several large-scale projects very successfully with Herrenknecht equipment. These include several large-diameter road tunnels in Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Photographed are: Dr.-Ing. E.h. Martin Herrenknecht, Chairman of the Board of Management Herrenknecht AG, and Mr. Yu Xuanping, General Manager of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd. (STEC) together with German Federal Minister Sigmar Gabriel and the German Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Michael Clauss. (Photo: Frank Ossenbrink)
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