TBM Goes to China Again
Dec. 20, 2001
Kawasaki and Shinsho Corporation have jointly received an order from Tianjin Foreign Trade (Group) Co., Ltd. for an earth pressure-balanced shield-type tunnel boring machine (TBM) for a project that will extend the No. 1 subway line in Tianjin, China. Delivery is scheduled for July 2002.
The TBM, 6.34 m in diameter, will be used to excavate an additional underground section (approximately 2,800 m two ways), which will increase the number of stations from eight to 23, and the distance from 7.4 km to 27 km.
A stable, mid-to-long-term demand is expected in the TBM market in China, the host country of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Several subway construction projects are under way in such large cities as Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Chengdu. There are also other large-scale civil engineering projects planned, including a south-to-north water diversion project. Kawasaki delivered TBMs for a sewage project in Shanghai in 1984 and a subway project in Guangzhou in 1996. The Tianjin project marks its third TBM contract in China.
The TBM, 6.34 m in diameter, will be used to excavate an additional underground section (approximately 2,800 m two ways), which will increase the number of stations from eight to 23, and the distance from 7.4 km to 27 km.
A stable, mid-to-long-term demand is expected in the TBM market in China, the host country of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Several subway construction projects are under way in such large cities as Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Chengdu. There are also other large-scale civil engineering projects planned, including a south-to-north water diversion project. Kawasaki delivered TBMs for a sewage project in Shanghai in 1984 and a subway project in Guangzhou in 1996. The Tianjin project marks its third TBM contract in China.
