A shield tunneling machine (STM) of China Railway Sunward Engineering Equipment Co., Ltd. (China Railway Sunward) smoothly dug through the left line of Shenzhen Metro Line 3's Low-carbon Town Station and Pingxi Station section. This marked that both lines of this section have been holed through. 

This is not a debut of a China Railway Sunward STM in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area). In June 2022, China Railway Sunward's No. 38 STM showed its capabilities in the construction of Shenzhen Metro Line 14 and also demonstrated the strength of Changsha-made STMs.

Changsha-based STM manufacturers, including China Railway Sunward and China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (CRCHI), are striving to enter into the Greater Bay Area market to win more orders and seize a bigger market share.

China Railway Sunward has participated in the construction of several projects in the Greater Bay Area, including the Shenzhen Metro Line 3, Guangzhou Metro Line 13, Shenzhen Metro Line 14, and Dongguan Metro Line 1.

Full-face tunnel boring machines (TBMs) produced by CRCHI are also "frequent visitors" to the Greater Bay Area. On January 4, 2023, a STM named "Road Opening Pioneer" jointly developed by CRCHI and other units rolled off the production line in Changsha. It will be commissioned in the construction of the Haizhu Bay Tunnel Project in Guangzhou. With a diameter of 15.07 meters, it is the largest STM to be applied in Guangzhou area.

CRCHI has specifically developed shield machines for the Greater Bay Area. According to incomplete statistics, in the past year alone, such machines as "Future", "Aoqin No. 1", "Qiangguo" and "Zhenxing" successfully rolled off the production line or were delivered.

Being China's most heavily invested subway project, the Guangzhou Metro Line 18 and 22 Construction Project has attracted much attention. In recent years, CRCHI has tailor-made 52 STMs for this project, set a world record for the largest group of STMs used in a single project, facilitated Guangzhou's subway construction, and served the Greater Bay Area.

CRCHI's full-face TBMs have been widely used in metro, railway, coal mine, water conservancy and other key projects in more than 30 provinces and cities in China. The machines have been successfully exported to Turkey, India, South Korea, Peru, Serbia and other countries and regions. They can provide complete solutions for global customers and help contribute Chinese wisdom to global infrastructure construction.

Source: en.changsha.gov.cn