Large diameter slurry TBM “CREC 1459”, developed with Acciona for the Western Harbour Tunnel project in Sydney, and manufactured by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG), has successfully completed its Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. With an excavation diameter of 15.7m, the machine has set a new record for the largest diameter TBM exported overseas from China, says CREG.
The tunnel to be excavated is a twin-tube, two-way road tunnel, with a maximum overburden of 50m and a minimum turning radius of 960m. The tunnel follows an “S”-shaped alignment and passes through a wide range of complex geological strata, including sandstone, silt, and layers of silty sand and silty clay. The uniaxial compressive strength of the strata averages up to 30MPa, with localized sections as high as 80MPa.
In response to the project’s challenging geological conditions and the specific requirements of the client, CREG has engineered the 113m long CREC 1459 with a range of advanced intelligent technologies.
“To address cutter wear, the TBM is equipped with cutter monitoring systems, a cutterhead flushing robot, and a disc cutter changing robot. The cutter monitoring system detects cutter wear in real time. When wear exceeds the specified threshold, the crew can first operate the cutterhead flushing robot to clean the disc cutter, followed by the deployment of the disc cutter changing robot to replace the worn cutter. This setup enables automated monitoring of cutter wear and unmanned disc cutter replacement. The system is three to five times more efficient than average manual replacement whilst significantly reducing the operational risks associated with manual cutter changes in compressed air environments during hyperbaric interventions.”
“To improve segment transportation efficiency and reduce manual operations, the TBM is equipped with an intelligenttransportation system, which includes a segment stack and culvert crane, a segment de-piling crane, an automatic segment feeder, and a spacer grabbing robot. Initially, the segment stack and culvert crane lifts a stack of two segments and places them onto the automatic segment feeder. The segment de-piling crane then lifts the topmost segment and moves it to the standby position. The automatic segment feeder moves the lower/first segment forward, and the segment de-piling crane automatically places the second segment onto the automatic segment feeder. Meanwhile, the spacer grabbing robot picks up the spacers from the front segment and places them into the spacer box. The automatic segment feeder then moves forward to transport both segments, and the cycle repeats. With this intelligent system, the entire segment transportation process can be completed automatically at the press of a button, significantly reducing manual labour while enhancing automation and construction efficiency.
“The TBM is also equipped with a grout system primarily used for the acquisition, analysis, and visualisation of quality data of the primary annulus grouting. This system helps construction personnel and engineers accurately assess grouting quality and promptly detect and address any issues that may arise during the grouting process, thereby ensuring the quality of the tunnel construction,” says a statement from CREG.
CREG
CREG (China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd.) is a worldwide underground solutions provider for a full range of mechanized...
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