German minister oversees huge Herrenknecht TBM tunnel deal for Wuhan, China

German Minister of Economy and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, attended the signing of a prized contract for the delivery of two Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines (TBM) for a large multi-functional tunnel in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
April 28, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
German Minister of Economy and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, attended the signing of a prized contract for the delivery of two 2592 Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines (TBM) for a large multi-functional tunnel in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The German firm’s key contract with 5250 Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC) was signed in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province on 23 April 2014 and will see Herrenknecht TBM’s play a vital role in extending Wuhan’s Metro network from three to seven lines, from 73km to 215km, by 2017. The megaproject in Wuhan, which has a population of 10 million, will enhance the city’s status as the most important transport hub in central China.

The two Mixshields with an excavation diameter of 15.76m being supplied to STEC by Herrenknecht will Cross under the Yangtze River in Wuhan 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 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 multi-purpose use, the Wuhan multi-functional tunnel construction is said to be a flagship project for mechanised tunnelling worldwide.

Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC) has previously used Herrenknecht equipment on a number of other large-scale tunnelling projects in China, usually months ahead of schedule. These include several large-diameter road tunnels in Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Italy's new southern highway route
    May 13, 2021
    An important new highway route is currently under construction in South Italy
    Read More
  • Italy road tunnel project excavated
    July 9, 2018
    Italy’s A3 Highway is being upgraded, which will improve transport between Salerno and Calabria. Upgrading Italy’s A3 highway is of prime importance for developing the south of the country and is a project that has been prioritised for construction. The A3 Salerno-Reggio-Calabria highway is a non-toll road managed by ANAS, Italy’s state-owned company that constructs and maintains highways. The route runs a total of 443km, with the road having originally been built between 1966 and 1974. However, the origina
    Read More
  • Underground expansion pushes tunnelling market
    June 13, 2012
    Infrastructure investment means that the road tunnel construction sector is healthy due to demand for new links – Mike Woof reports With many emergent nations investing heavily in infrastructure, the tunnelling sector is seeing extensive business at present. Tunnels provide key links in mountainous areas or in congested cities where building roads on the surface may not be practical. In Asia and Latin America, many key road connections are now being built underground to pass challenging terrain or provide
    Read More
  • Agua Negra tunnel between Chile and Argentina
    May 15, 2014
    The current Paso de Agua Negra is the highest border crossing between Chile and Argentina. On the Argentine side, the Agua Negra Pass is located at 4,765m above sea level and 260km from the city of San Juan in the province of San Juan in the north-west of the country. On the Chilean side, the pass lies 229km from the city of La Serena in the Coquimbo region. The pass can be accessed from the Argentine side via National Highway No 150 from the province of La Rioja, which runs for a total of 390km. From the C
    Read More

Highlighted Content