With major projects completed across Europe and Asia, a trenchless giant based in China is looking to support the growth of Australian infrastructure.
China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited (CRCHI) has a history of handling major challenges.
The company was established in 2007 as a key subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), one of the Fortune Global 500 enterprises. Headquartered in Changsha, Hunan Province, CRCHI focuses on the research, design, manufacture and service of advanced underground engineering and railway track equipment.
Among manufacturing bases scattered across China, the Changsha facility – which is the world’s largest manufacturing facility of underground equipment – serves as the company’s primary innovation and production hub.
CRCHI has developed a wide range of tunnel boring machines (TBMs) suitable for different geological and engineering environments, including the world’s largest diameter (23.02m) shaft sinking machine, which was used to excavate a vertical shaft for an underground parking garage in downtown Shanghai.
This innovative machine enabled the creation of a parking facility with a capacity of 304 spaces underground, all within a footprint of only 286m2.
The company has delivered 12 TBMs for Italy, including for global construction company Webuild. These have come equipped with CE and ATEX dual certification, and built in green technologies such as continuous mining, permanent magnetic drive, equipment auto management and control, and auto segment handling.
One of CRCHI’s most notable current projects is the Guangzhou–Huadu Intercity Railway Tunnel in Guangdong Province, which got underway in July 2023 and is set to be completed next year.
To say the 8.62km tunnel passes through highly challenging ground conditions would be something of an understatement, with 96 per cent of the route running through weathered granite, fractured zones, and areas with a high cavern ratio of nearly 46 per cent. Rock strength of up to 200 megapascals (MPa), along with overburden depths of up to 210m, make it an especially complex project for trenchless construction.
To handle such challenging conditions, CRCHI is deploying its EPB-Double Shield Convertible TBM (model ZTTE8850), designed specifically for difficult mixed-ground environments.
This machine has an excavation diameter of 8.84m and 4500 kilowatts (kW) of installed power. Its strong cutterhead, high torque and precise control allow it to advance efficiently and safely. In addition, the TBM includes advanced systems like the cutterhead freezing horizontal sound probing system and continuous mining capabilities.
CRCHI also played a pivotal role in another challenging project, the Bang Pakong-south Bangkok power plant gas transmission pipeline project in Thailand, where it independently developed a rapid pipe jacking machine with a diameter of 91cm. The machine completed excavation across ten sections, covering a total of 9.08 km, including the recent 850m drive that was completed in 15 days, and the maximum drive of 1,046m completed in just 12 days. High-voltage power line towers are positioned every 200m along the route, with foundation piles spaced only 3m apart. The pipeline had to be meticulously routed through the centre of these foundation piles along a double-curved trajectory, which meant CRCHI had to opt for the innovative rapid pipe jacking method.
In addition to large-scale tunneling, CRCHI applies its trenchless expertise to urban utility projects through microtunnelling, non-circular pipe jacking, pipe roofing, cross passage boring, as well as mechanized shaft sinking and boring.
The company has more than shown it is up to the task of a difficult project, thinking outside the box to get the best results. Its move to the Australian market will surely see CRCHI’s innovative skills put to good use in the country’s trenchless sector.
For more information, visit en.crchi.com
This article was featured in the June edition of Trenchless Australasia.
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