NEWS |
Large diameter TBM prepared for Yellow River road tunnel crossing
Silvertown road tunnel connections completed UK – Riverlinx CJV has completed construction works for the connections between the open cut approaches and the twin-tube bored section of the Silvertown road tunnel, running below the River Thames in London. The final transition section of the tunnel
completed work to connect the northbound and southbound tunnels, which run from the Silvertown portal to the Greenwich portal. A complete transformation of the tunnel
shape was needed to connect the bored circular tunnel to the cut-and-cover tunnels with arch-shaped cast insitu concrete linings. To construct the four transitions – one at
the end of each of the parallel tubes – the contractor used self-propelled, self- erecting formwork was used, nicknamed ‘The Crab.’ The 70-tonne tracked structure
Above: Giant (17.5m-diameter) Herrenknecht Mixshield TBM ready at manufacturing plant before disassembly and transport to site for a major road tunnel project requiring a single bore drive under Yellow River in Jinan, China PHOTO CREDIT: HERRENKNECHT
CHINA – A 17.5m-diameter Herrenknecht Mixshield TBM is to bore a large single bore road tunnel in Jinan, China, starting later this year.
Herrenknecht said a machine of
approximately this diameter has been used only twice before on tunnelling projects. The largest of the prior machines was employed in 2015 – also in China– was also a Herrenknecht Mixshield. The diameter of the TBM used then, in Hong Kong, was 17.63m. The latest TBM – ‘Shanhe’ – was
manufactured by Herrenknecht subsidiary Herrenknecht Tunnelling Machinery (HTM), in China. It is being transported for reassembly on the road tunnel construction site Jinan. The large diameter tunnel will
have bi-directional traffic, carrying three lanes in each direction, to take the road under the Yellow River. The mixshield has been designed
to meet the challenges of boring a single large diameter tunnel under the river in an environment with high groundwater pressure, up to 7.5 bar. Geology along the route comprises clay, sand and silt.
6 | July 2024 The Mixshield technology
developed by Herrenknecht is an advance on conventional slurry technology. The support pressure in the excavation chamber is managed precisely using an automatically- controlled air cushion so heterogeneous geologies and water pressures of more than 15 bar can be controlled safely, even with very large excavation diameters. For this latest project, an
individual, new slurry circuit was designed especially for TBM ‘Shanhe’. Herrenknecht project manager
Zhao Bin said the machine was also equipped with a telescopic camera to better monitor the tool change and face. He has supervised several
projects for clients in China, including two TBMs on the Jinan Jiluo Road North Extension Tunnel project, which are crossing under the Yellow River just a few kilometres away from the new construction site. The two TBMs on the
neighbouring twin-tube road tunnel are also Mixshields – each at 15.71m-diameter.
was moved into position and folded out using hydraulic rams to create the required formwork shape. It then acted as a temporary structure for the rebar installation before concrete was placed. Once the concrete had cured sufficiently to be self-supporting, the machine folded the shutters inward for transport through the bored tunnel to the next transition location. On the project, fit-out is underway on the
last of eight cross passages. Silvertown Tunnel is being built by
Riverlinx (a joint venture of Ferrovial Construction, BAM Nuttall and SK ecoplant) for Transport for London (TfL) to link the road network in Newham, on the north of the Thames, to the Greenwich Peninsula, on the south side. Riverlinx said the tunnel is on track to open in 2025.
New BTS chair elected UK – John Corcoran of Morgan Sindall has been elected as the new Chair of the BTS. Corcoran, who was previously Vice-
Chair, was elected at a committee meeting prior to the AGM in May. He takes over the role from Rod Young of Barhale. Alastair Smith of Jacobs is the new Vice-
Chair. Omar Mohammed from J Murphy & Sons;
Nick Lock from London Bridge Associates; and, Steve Parker from Keystone Tunnelling have been elected as committee members. *Deadline is approaching for the final
opportunity to order the excellent and monumental BTS 50th Anniversary book.
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