The first tunnel of the Southwest Line of Moscow's subway was dug through as the Polina tunnel boring machine (TBM) gouged out the last of the soil on July 7 local time.
Contracted by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), the tunnel was a successful outcome of Chinese subway technological solutions and China-made TBMs as well as the Chinese management mode used in overseas projects.
A part of the Kommunarka Line linking the new town of Kommunarka and the downtown of Moscow, the project includes construction of the General Tyulenev, Slavic World and Mamyri stations as well as three interval sections between the stations and accessory structures.
The tunnel is about 6.5 kilometers long and is invested with about 2.8 billion yuan ($399.84 million).
The section between the Slavic World and General Tyulenev stations is 826 meters long. During construction, the Polina dug under a double-direction 10-lane circle ring highway, a main traffic artery built in 1960.
CRCC held several seminars for Chinese and Russian experts to make special technology plans to guarantee normal travel of local residents during the digging.
Eleven monitoring points were set and special staff members monitored for settlement 24/7 and adjusted all parameters as necessary during the tunneling. The tunneling under the highway was completed without any settlement in 33 days thanks to the rigorous plan.
The TBM Polina is a 6.28-meter earth pressure balanced TBM and was used in another project of the city's Southwest Line in extremely cold weather. The successful engineering won the China-made TBM a good reputation in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Also adopted in the Southwest Line program were another four TBMs named Maria, Darya, Eugenia and Galina.
Models of the five TBMs on a 1:16 scale were displayed in an exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, attracting many visitors.
Construction site of the first tunnel of the Southwest Line in Russia's Moscow [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
An engineer at work [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
