The distance between the east and west of China's land territory is about 5,200 kilometers. 10,000 kilometers, what is the concept? It is equivalent to three-quarters of the diameter of the earth, which is equivalent to the round-trip distance from the southernmost part of China to the northernmost section, which is equivalent to 8 round-trips from Shanghai to Beijing.

And this number is exactly the accumulated mileage of tunnel excavation of the China Railway Tunnel Bureau since the construction of the bureau!

As a national team in the field of tunnels and underground engineering in China, the China Railway Tunnel Bureau has undertaken half of the total number of cross-river and ocean-crossing projects in the country, creating 6 times under the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, 10 times through the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, and 14 times through the Pearl River underwater construction record.

The nine-story platform rises from the soil. Let's take a look at the brightest "lighthouses" on the 10000+ journey of China Railway Tunnel Bureau!

Tunnelling will always be the vanguard

From the 4501 project that gave birth to the China Railway Tunnel Bureau, to the 1st meter tunnel of the Leigongjian Tunnel on the Hengguang Double Line, to the Dayaoshan Tunnel of the Hengguang Double Line 10 kilometers, to the 100 kilometers of the Yuntaishan Tunnel of the Houyue Railway, and then to Wuguang From 1978 to 2021, the China Railway Tunnel Bureau has been challenging the most difficult tunnel from 1978 to 2021. To go head-on, ups and downs for more than 60 years, with the accumulation of experience and technological innovation, it has become a well-deserved "national name card" in the field of tunneling in China. 

1981: Dayaoshan Tunnel on the double track of Hengguang Railway

The Dayaoshan Tunnel has a total length of 14,294 meters. Construction started in November 1981, completed in May 1987, and opened to traffic in December 1988. This is the first 10 kilometers of the China Railway Tunnel Bureau and the first 10 kilometers of the China Tunnel. For the first time, domestic tunnel projects have fully realized mechanized operations, breaking the forbidden zone that my country cannot independently build long tunnels of more than 10 kilometers.

1995: Extra-long tunnel of Qinling Line 1 of Xikang Railway

The total length is 18460 meters, the total length of the II line is 18456 meters, and the distance between the two lines is 30 meters. It was officially started on January 18, 1995, and it was fully connected on September 6, 1999. It was the first in China and the sixth in the world at that time. The tunnel is the first railway tunnel constructed in my country using hard rock TBM (Rock Tunnel Boring Machine). 

2003: Wushaoling Tunnel of Lanwu Railway

The total length is 20.05 kilometers. It is the first land tunnel whose length exceeds 20 kilometers in the history of my country's railway. There are as many as 8 construction units, which started construction in March 2003 and realized the dual-line opening on August 23, 2006.

2006: Shiziyang Tunnel of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Passenger Dedicated Line

The first domestic railway underwater tunnel, the first domestic long underwater shield tunnel and the first domestic railway passenger dedicated line shield tunnel are known as the China Railway Century Tunnel. Construction started in May 2006 and was completed on March 12, 2011. 

2007: Guanjiao Tunnel on the Second Line of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway

With a total length of 32.645 kilometers and an average altitude of more than 3,600 meters, it is currently the world's longest plateau railway tunnel. Construction started on November 6, 2007, and officially opened for operation on December 28, 2014.

Who is it for shield construction?

The tunnel construction capability of the China Railway Tunnel Bureau is not only reflected in the length and difficulty of the tunnel, but also in the tunneling technology. Since the introduction of the first TBM in the Qinling Tunnel in the 1990s, the China Railway Tunnel Bureau has begun the exploration and layout of shield/TBM tunnel construction. After more than 20 years of development, the company has firmly occupied the leading position in the domestic shield construction field.

2014: Gaoligongshan Tunnel of Dari Railway

Created six domestic firsts: The tunnel has 24 lines planned, which is the most routed tunnel in China; the tunnel is 34.538 kilometers long, which is the longest railway tunnel in China; the No. 1 shaft is 764.74 meters deep, which is the deepest shaft of the Chinese railway; The No. 1 inclined shaft is 3870 meters long and is the longest inclined shaft of a railway tunnel in China; the "Caiyun" TBM is 9.03 meters in diameter, which is the largest domestic diameter TBM independently developed by China; the "Caiyun No. 1" TBM is the first remanufactured in China TBM. Construction started on the afternoon of December 29, 2014.

2015: Shenzhen-China Channel

The Shenzhen-China Corridor is the only direct highway connecting the three major free trade zones of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the two major urban agglomerations of "Shenzhen-Dongguanhui" and "Zhuzhongjiang". It is a world-class cross-sea passage project attracting worldwide attention. After completion, the driving time from Shenzhen to Zhongshan will be shortened from the current two and a half hours to 20 minutes.

As an important part of the passage project, the builders of the China Railway Tunnel Bureau reclaimed the eastern artificial island in the Lingdingyang Sea with a land area equivalent to 48 standard football fields. After completion, it will become the first underwater interchange on a domestic expressway, realizing rapid speed Convenient transportation conversion and interconnection among cities.

2015: Shantou Bay Tunnel

With a total length of about 6.8 kilometers and a total investment of about 6 billion yuan, it is the largest cross-sea shield tunnel in China today, and the first underwater shield tunnel in my country that combines the functions of urban roads and first-class highways. It is also the country's first underwater shield tunnel. A super large-diameter submarine shield tunnel located in a seismic fortification intensity zone of 8 degrees.

2016: Shenzhen Chunfeng Tunnel

Shenzhen Chunfeng Tunnel is a major strategic transportation project for Shenzhen’s Dongjin. It is constructed with a 15.80 shield machine with the largest cross-section in China. The comprehensive construction difficulty ranks among the world's forefront of similar projects. This project pioneered the construction of a motor vehicle tunnel in Shenzhen with a shield, and is also the first motor vehicle tunnel with a "single-hole and double-layer" structure in Shenzhen. It is useful for enriching and improving Shenzhen's underground engineering construction technology and promoting domestic large shield construction technology. The application and promotion in cities have important influence and significance. Construction started on December 26, 2016.

2013: Kamchik Tunnel of Anglian-Pap Railway, Uzbekistan

The longest tunnel in Central Asia is a demonstration project of China-Uzbekistan joint construction of the Belt and Road interconnection and cooperation. It was officially excavated on September 5, 2013, and the tunnel was completed on February 25, 2016. It took 900 days. The heads of state of China and Uzbekistan attended the opening ceremony, and the China Railway Tunnel Bureau became a bright business card for Chinese enterprises to go out.

2021: Sino-Russian East Route Natural Gas Pipeline

The Sino-Russian East Route Natural Gas Pipeline is 5,111 kilometers in length. It is the long-distance natural gas pipeline with the largest diameter and the highest pressure in my country, and it is the national energy artery. The Yangtze River shield crossing tunnel project undertaken by the China Railway Tunnel Bureau. The shield machine started from the north bank of Haimen and crossed the Yangtze River in the form of a tunnel. It drove out on the south bank of Changshu City. It drove up to 10.226 kilometers alone, setting a single shield machine in the world. The longest single-head digging mileage has been recorded. The shield tunneling 7.5 kilometers across the Yangtze River is the longest tunnel under construction across the Yangtze River.

A new starting point for the journey of thousands of miles

On December 25, 2021, after four months of hard work by the builders of the China Railway Tunnel Bureau, the “Greater Bay Area” shield machine used in the Pearl River Mouth Tunnel of the Deep River Railway, the deepest subsea tunnel in my country, was successfully launched in Nansha, Guangzhou. The construction challenge of crossing the Pearl River estuary 115 meters underwater was officially opened.

The Pearl River Mouth Tunnel is a full-line control project of the Deep River Railway, with a total length of 13.69 kilometers and a design speed of 250 kilometers per hour. The China Railway Tunnel Bureau undertook the construction task of 9175 meters. The maximum buried depth is 115 meters, which is the deepest record of underwater tunnels in my country. The maximum water pressure is 1.06 MPa, which is equivalent to 10.6 kilograms of pressure per square centimeter, and the strength exceeds 10 Standard atmospheric pressure is the highest in the world.

This is the starting point of the China Railway Tunnel Bureau Group's new journey. It will provide a unique sample and valuable experience for the world's undersea tunnel engineering technology, and it will also carry the dream of China's tunnels to enter the deep sea era.

It took 23 years for the China Railway Tunnel Bureau to complete the construction of the first 1,000 kilometers of the tunnel. When the tunnel mileage reached 5,000 kilometers, it took 31 years. It took only 9 years to cross from 5,000 kilometers to 10,000 kilometers. The compression of time reflects the improvement of efficiency, but also the huge progress in tunnel construction technology and capacity. Editor/Sang Xiaomei