PowerChina Aims to Set Industrial Standard for Urban Rail in Shenzhen

A recent public event named "entering the new State-owned enterprise, feeling power in the greater bay area" attracted many media groups to record the development of Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The gathering was organized by the information office of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), the commentary bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of China and the publicity bureau of SASAC.

Since 2012, PowerChina Railway Construction, a subsidiary of PowerChina, and nine major engineering bureaus of PowerChina have undertaken several subway projects in Shenzhen including metro lines 7 and 12, the south extension of Line 5 and the branch line of Line 9; a total of more than 90 kilometers.

The contract amount for the projects reached 45 billion yuan ($6.52 billion). Based on its market in Shenzhen, PowerChina's metro business has expanded to other domestic cities such as Chengdu, Wuhan, Harbin and Fuzhou.

Building the "brain center" of Shenzhen rail transit

On April 25, a delegation visited the Shenzhen Rail Transit Network Operation Control Center (NOCC), a vital part of the third phase of the Shenzhen metro project. The total construction area of the control center of NOCC is 116,375 square meters, with 16 floors above ground, and three below. The height of the building is 78.9 meters.

NOCC mainly functions as the operation control center for the five existing operational lines and will also control the anticipated 20 further lines of Shenzhen urban rail transit network. It is also responsible for clearing the AFC system in the wire network and providing other support facilities for the network service center.

"NOCC features a smart and high-tech metro. It is a brand-new business card jointly created by Shenzhen metro and PowerChina," said the person responsible for the project.

"The project integrates five smart functions - the operational command of the rail transit network, information management and application, and coordination of resource-sharing, emergency handling, and network external communication. It is deservedly known as the ' brain center' of the Shenzhen urban rail transit."

Innovative technology applied to high-quality metro

The south extension project of the Shenzhen Metro Line 5, built by PowerChina, runs from north to south through the city's Qianhai new area. As an important metro line connecting the Qianhai Shekou free trade zone, the project plays a key role in boosting the cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong, and accelerates communication between the zone and Shenzhen. PowerChina considers technological innovation to be the key for construction.

PowerChina applies the BIM+VR technology to construction, which enables a three-dimensional animation display of the construction process, so that workers can observe a virtual reality scene to review and improve the design drawings.

PowerChina attaches great importance to the promotion and application of new technologies, crafts, equipment and tools in construction. The adoption of the lofting robot instead of the manual lofting operation greatly improves work efficiency and accuracy. The site machine room adopts assembly construction and uses the BIM to optimize the pipeline layout. It also takes the BIM platform as the core and the integration model as the carrier, correlating the data in the construction process to achieve effective decision-making and management.

Fulfilling the concept of "green metro"

Even when facing a complicated environment, PowerChina has always fulfilled the concept of "green metro". During the construction process of the Shenzhen metro, PowerChina Railway Construction adopted five noise reduction measures: distance noise reduction, sound source noise reduction, barrier noise reduction, green noise absorption and sound absorption to reduce the impact of noise on surrounding areas, as well as dust and water pollution.

The company also uses equipment such as a mobile water mist machine to strengthen control over bare soil coverage, and maintains watering and dust reduction at the construction site.  

According to the planning of the Shenzhen urban rail transit, the city will build 33 lines with a total length of 1,335 kilometers and a density of 1.21km per square kilometer by 2035. Building a high-quality urban rail transit system will help Shenzhen to become a demonstration and world-class city in the future.

PowerChina is now standing at a new starting point of China's reform and opening-up policy. The company will spare no efforts to advance the city's urban development and contribute to the construction of beautiful Shenzhen.

(Executive editor: Li Shuling)