Chinese engineering giant sets sails for Sydney

Henan Daily

Zhengzhou: As a flagship of China’s advanced manufacturing, Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) produced in Henan are increasingly gaining recognition worldwide.

On the evening of August 5, a massive Henan-made TBM (No. 1459), independently developed by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG), departed from Taicang Port, the largest port along the Yangtze River, bound for Sydney. This TBM is the largest-diameter TBM ever exported from China.

This TBM has an excavation diameter of 15.7 meters, a total length of approximately 113 meters, and weighs over 4,000 tons. Equipped with multiple intelligent technologies, it is set to be deployed in Australia’s Western Harbour Tunnel Project.

The machine took one year for design and assembly, and nearly four months for disassembly, transportation, and shipment. Making and exporting such a “giant” are no easy feat.

TBM is known as the “King of Construction Machinery”. Its ultra-large diameter needs the advanced technical capabilities as well as significant transportation challenges.

“From material selection and welding to assembly, packaging, and transportation, the Australian client and contractors issued over 2,000 specific requirements, all of which we addressed one by one,” said Liu Wei, production manager of this TBM. Since its completion on April 16, the machine has been disassembled and transported in batches using 152 specialized vehicles. It was transportedby road and inland waterways via Zhoukou Port before arriving at Taicang Port for sea shipment.