Shield Tunnel of China-contracted Metro in Moscow Completed

The right-hand lane of the third transfer line's southwestern tunnel section in Moscow, Russia, has been completed.

Constructed by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), the tunnel is 1,472.8 meters and was constructed with the CRCC-developed tunnel boring machine (TBM), named "Eugene".

Located at the economic fort of southwestern Moscow, the tunnel has large amounts of people and vehicles transiting above and stratum adverse to construction like saturated powder sand and water-rich layers below, making construction difficult.

To conduct construction, "Eugene" had to go through the Moscow - Kiev Railway - a railroad with a hundred years' history in Moscow, as well as an anchorage cable zone with a station enclosure structure.

The heavy grades and a small 350-meter radius for turning, as well as the short distance of 1.75 meters to the Michurin station added to the engineering challenges.

Eight engineering plans and contingency plans were made by Chinese and Russian experts after over ten investigations and many discussions.

Skills such as ground surface settlement control, artificial intelligence-based joint monitoring, underground radial grouting reinforcement and pressurized anchorage cable removal were used during the operation of the TBM.

It was the first time a foreign enterprise's plan was used in Russian subway construction in the past 90 years.

According to the company, the entire distance of the CRCC-contracted subway project in Moscow is 6.2 kilometers and includes construction of three stations, four shield intervals and nine tunnels.

The project, the first metro program contracted by a Chinese central SOE in a European country, is scheduled to open to traffic in 2020.

The subway line will relieve traffic pressure in the urban area of the city when completed.

(Executive editor: Hao Wen)