The sky is as clear as blue, and at the construction site of the Kaliwa Dam Project Department in the Philippines undertaken by CEEC Gezhouba Guangxi Engineering Bureau, more than 130 builders are burning with enthusiasm—the Philippine New Century Water Source Project, which has been fighting for three years, is about to usher in a major milestone.

On December 7, local time, the Kaliwa Dam Project Department in the Philippines held the "Energy Building to the Future Open Day of State-owned Enterprises" event, inviting nearly 40 people from the Philippine Manila Water Service (MWSS) and citizens of Teresa, Rizal Province. The experience group witnessed the starting moment of the project "Jasmine" TBM double-shield hard rock tunnel boring machine.

Germination: Searching for water sources in the new century

The Kaliwa Dam Project in the Philippines is a key infrastructure project under the China-Philippines government cooperation framework, a flagship project of the Philippine Build-Build-Build Plan, and a milestone project in the development of Philippine public facilities... The dam is a concrete gravity dam with a maximum height of 73 meters. The water diversion tunnel is 21.9 kilometers long, with a designed water supply capacity of 600,000 tons per day and a water delivery capacity of 2.4 million tons per day. It is of great significance to improve the water network in Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and maintain the health of the ecological environment of the Kalihua River Basin.

The sunny and sunny December is the golden period of construction in the dry season in the Philippines. The experience group saw at the site that several excavators and loaders were waving their arms to excavate the earthwork, and the transport vehicles shuttled back and forth to clear and transport the earthwork. The weather is tense and orderly advancing the construction of the project, and it is a scene of enthusiasm.

Not far away, the entrance and exit area of the diversion tunnel is starting a new journey amidst the rumble of machines. The water diversion tunnel is one of the control projects along the whole line. The engineering design draws water from the Kaliwa River about 4.2 kilometers upstream, passes through the pressurized water inlet tunnel at an elevation of 147 meters to the outlet pool at a height of 112.85 meters, and then flows to the water transmission line by itself.

In the early stage of budding, the water diversion tunnel that will pass through more than 10 kinds of mountainous lithology areas is full of difficulties. A series of technical problems such as uplift of the hard rock floor, sudden water gushing, and gushing broken rock encountered by the TBM were stumbling blocks for the construction team.

"The most uncomfortable thing will be the high temperature and high humidity working environment. The normal temperature of the working surface in the tunnel is expected to be 35 degrees Celsius to 37 degrees Celsius, and it can reach a maximum of 42 degrees Celsius during excavation. The water replaced by the TBM air conditioner is hot, so I use it for bathing It’s a little hot.” Huang Yaxiong, chief engineer of the Kaliwa Dam Project Department in the Philippines, jokingly said during the on-site introduction that the humidity in the cave will be above 90%, and walking in with glasses is like a blind man touching an elephant. Huang Yaxiong vividly drew an analogy, and the experience group couldn't help exclaiming that the construction was difficult and dangerous, and the high temperature and high humidity working environment made the construction in the cave like a sauna.

First Bloom: Riding the Iron Dragon

On the flat and open starting site of the entrance and exit area of the water diversion tunnel, a giant steel dragon emerges, with the white, red and blue colors of the Philippine flag as the background color, and two tightly held The hands together are designed as a pattern, and the Jasmine TBM double-shield hard rock tunneling machine named after the Philippine national flower jasmine, which symbolizes friendship, attracted the experience group to stop and take pictures.

As beautiful as it is, the weapon is unsheathed. In order to conquer the hard rock of the lofty mountains, the Kaliwa Dam Project in the Philippines customized China's first TBM double-shield hard rock roadheader exported to the Philippines. The factory-like assembly line tunnel construction equipment integrating machine, electricity, liquid, light, gas and other systems has changed the traditional construction scene of roaring wind guns and billowing smoke and dust, and realized factory-like rapid excavation without blasting and vibration in the whole process of tunnel construction , The tunneling speed is 3 to 5 times that of the artificial drilling and blasting method.

"The excavation diameter of the TBM is 4.8 meters, and the whole machine is 372 meters long, which is equivalent to the length of 35 buses. The total weight is 1,000 tons, which is equivalent to the total weight of 200 adult elephants. It is a veritable steel dragon." Zhang Jie, director of the water diversion tunnel of the Kaliwa Dam Project in the Philippines, introduced, "The project department innovatively proposed the construction plan of 'TBM flat guidance + branch hole drilling and blasting method', while adopting press-in continuous ventilation, equipped with an automatic gas monitoring and alarm system, comprehensive Measures such as advanced geological forecasting and strengthening the safety management of personnel and mechanical equipment will escort the tunnel construction.”

With the support of technology and the wisdom of the team, each stumbling block has been removed one after another. The Kaliwa Dam Project Department in the Philippines has selected elite soldiers and held expert meetings for many times, making use of the rich experience and professional skills accumulated by the professional team in large-diameter shield construction, and carried out multiple transformations and upgrades on the excavation equipment and mud-water circulation treatment system , and according to the characteristics of the surrounding rock, it is equipped with applications such as rapid slag removal devices, advanced drilling rigs, and shoe-adjusting arch devices to shorten tunnel excavation time, reduce construction risks, improve excavation progress, and ensure safe, efficient and continuous advancement of the project.

In a kilometer-long dark tunnel, how to control the TBM to ensure the precise penetration of the tunnel? The project adopts high-precision dual-frequency GPS technology outside the tunnel, cross-over dual-wire measurement of the wire control network inside the tunnel, and VMT and other measurement and control technologies, which can completely ensure the accurate penetration of the tunnel. Zhang Jie answered the questions of the experience group, and said with a smile, "We have equipped the TBM Jasmine with an intelligent brain, which will look for light in the dark, take root and sprout, blossom and bear fruit."

Ye Mao: Thick planting and beauty together

Do a project, build a monument; plant a small tree, green a fertile soil. Accompanied by the roar of the TBM cutter head turning slowly on the Jasmine, the Chinese and Filipino employees and the experience group witnessed the highlight moment when the TBM started and the fast-forward button was pressed for the diversion tunnel excavation. Amidst the laughter, everyone brought saplings, shovels, hoes, buckets and other tools to plant commemorative trees on the idle land of the project site.

"Since participating in the pledge ceremony for the 2022 Ten Million Trees Plan held in Quezon City, Philippines on June 29, we have promised to plant 25,000 saplings during the project construction period. This is the responsibility and obligation of Canjian people." Philippines Card Dai Longcai, head of the Liwa Dam project department, said.

Make it right, a thousand miles away. Since the implementation of the national greening project in the Philippines in 2011, the local government has taken afforestation as an important measure to speed up land greening. The Kaliwa Dam Project in the Philippines has actively responded to the call. The idea of joining hands with Chinese and Filipino employees to add greenery to the ecologically beautiful homeland of the territory.

At the tree planting site, the Chinese and Filipino employees and the experience group formed groups of two or five. They were full of enthusiasm and energy. While shoveling soil with shovels, cultivating cofferdams, and watering buckets, they asked the horticulturalist about the survival rate of seedlings, In the post-management and other situations, every process is meticulous and meticulous, and I am extremely busy. After an hour of solidarity and cooperation, more than 10 trees of friendship settled down, and the breeze blew, and the branches and leaves were dense, adding a touch of greenery to the project construction.

"It is a wise and good choice for CEEC companies to build the Kaliwa Dam project in the Philippines. They are not only builders to solve the shortage of local water resources, but also guardians to improve water safety, and even escorts to participate in ecological governance." Experience Team leader Ryan James Eisen said with a thumbs up.

Ahead, machines are roaring, warehouses of concrete are mixing with all their strength, and a builder is working hard, heading towards a road of prosperity with bluer skies, greener mountains, clearer water, and a better ecological environment. , activating the surging power of a giant steel dragon, digging into a thousand-meter tunnel, the glory of the new hundred-year water source. Editor/He Yuting