The world’s largest high-speed rail tunnel boring machine (TBM), “Linghang,” developed by China, has achieved an excavation breakthrough of over 8,000 meters on the Chongming–Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel project.
Constructed by China Railway Tunnel Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Railway Engineering Co., Ltd., the tunnel links Chongming District in Shanghai with Taicang City in Jiangsu Province. It is a critical project of the Shanghai–Chongqing–Chengdu High-Speed Railway.
The tunnel measures 14.25 kilometers in total, with a shield-driven section of 13.2 kilometers. Designed for train speeds of up to 350 km/h, it reaches a depth of 89 meters beneath the Yangtze River, making it the world’s longest, deepest, and most technically advanced high-speed rail cross-river tunnel under construction.
It employs the “Linghang” TBM with a cutterhead diameter of 15.4 meters, the largest of its kind worldwide, to complete single-head excavation. The team has pioneered “Smart TBM Construction 2.0,” integrating nine intelligent systems such as automated tunneling, segment assembly, and environmental control. This enables self-decision-making and automated operation under human supervision. The project has also set a record monthly advance of 718 meters for a 15-meter-class railway tunnel.
(Executive editor: Yuan Ting)
