According to a post on the official Weibo of China Railway Construction, the large-diameter shield machine "Dinghai" jointly developed by China Railway 11th Bureau and China Railway Heavy Industry has successfully rolled off the production line in Changsha.It is reported that,"Dinghaihao" is composed of more than 100,000 parts, with a maximum excavation diameter of 14.57 meters and a total weight of 4,350 tons, which is 8 times the weight of an ordinary shield machine.The cutter head is about 5 stories high and painted with the "Dragon King of the East China Sea" pattern, showing its majesty and domineering character. It conveys the meaning of "Zhenhai" in traditional culture and expresses the builders' determination to conquer the undersea high-speed rail tunnel.
"Dinghai" will be used in the construction of the Jintang Submarine Tunnel of the Ningbo-Zhou Railway, the world's longest and largest undersea high-speed rail tunnel.
The Jintang Undersea Tunnel is a control project for the entire Ningbo-Zhou Railway. The shield section of the tunnel is approximately 11.21 kilometers long and has an excavation diameter of 14.57 meters. The tunnel is constructed using the two-way shield method, and two shield machines will tunnel in opposite directions from Ningbo and Zhoushan respectively.
After the "Dinghai" comes off the assembly line, the builders will disassemble the oversized parts and transport them across more than 1,000 kilometers by sea and land until they arrive at the construction line of the Ningbo-Zhou Railway project.