Zhanjiang Bay Subsea Tunnel, a key section of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway in South China's Guangdong Province, has successfully crossed the main channel of the Zhanjiang Bay.
An inside view of the Zhanjiang Bay Subsea Tunnel of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway in South China's Guangdong Province [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The main channel of the tunnel is 195 meters long and runs as far as 20.8 meters below the sea surface. The tunnel can bear a maximum hydraulic pressure of 6 Bar (Kg/cm2), which equals six kilograms of pressure on a nail-sized area.
The "Yongxing" tunnel boring machine (TBM) being used in the tunnel excavation has now penetrated 2,770 meters across the deepest areas of Zhanjiang Bay. The entire tunnel is scheduled to be dug through by the end of this year.
A worker hoists the box culvert of the Zhanjiang Bay Subsea Tunnel. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The main track of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway is about 401 kilometers and has a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It is the longest and most invested high-speed railway project in Guangdong.
Workers operate the "Yongxing" tunnel boring machine to dig the Zhanjiang Bay Subsea Tunnel. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Once operational, travel time between downtown Guangzhou and Zhanjiang will be shorten to 90 minutes, which will boost the overall economic and social development of Zhanjiang, improve Zhanjiang's involvement in development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and give full play to Guangdong's role in international cooperation through links running eastward and westward, across land and over sea.
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
