By rosebell
On May 7, the TBM that is due to construct the northern section of China’s Macao Light Rail Eastern Line was launched.
Digging process of the 2.74km northern section from Zone A of the Macao Peninsula to the Portas do Cerco (Guanzha Port) will be up to TBM Haojiang Pioneer, which is built by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Ltd (CRCHI) and is 87m long, weighs 690 tons, and has a cutterhead diameter of 7.28m.
With almost 2.077km long the shield tunnel section of the project is fully underground. Considering that the challenges of a densely populated urban area, the narrow construction site, and the complex hydro-geological conditions will require multiple TBM launching and receiving operations, shield construction was specified, whereas CRCHI says this requires precision control of shield machine construction, formation adaptability, and the ability to deal with overlapping risks.
Including the advantages such as analysing changes in the soil layer structure in front of the cutterhead in real time, adjusting the rotation speed and thrust of the cutterhead, as well as improving the construction efficiency and reducing the settlement risk, TBM Haojiang Pioneer is equipped with intelligent monitoring and high-precision deviation correction.
Also, in order to improving the efficiency of multi-party linkage during the tunneling process and minimises the impact on the surrounding environment, the TBM has advanced systems such as a visualisation camera in the soil bin and an automatic spraying system.
While the light rail system is going to improve the connection between the Portas do Cerco and the Taipa Ferry Terminal following completion, this is slated to decrease passenger flow pressure at the Portas do Cerco and reduce urban traffic congestion.
