An undersea tunnel (n.隧道) of a high-speed railway was completed in South China on Friday,(set) a new record in the construction of high-speed railway tunnels in China.
The Zhanjiang Bay (湛江湾) Undersea Tunnel, a key project of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-speed Railway,(complete) after 33 months of construction, marking a significant milestone in the construction of the new railway.
The Zhanjiang Bay Undersea Tunnel spans (v.横跨)total length of 9,640 meters. It is designed as a single tunnel with double tracks, crossing the seabed of the Zhanjiang Bay and the urban area of Zhanjiang. It crosses a 2,500-meter sea section and a 5,051-meter section of land.(especial), the tunnel is China's(long) single-headed undersea high-speed railway shield tunnel (盾构隧道), showcasing the country's remarkable engineering techniques.
"Single-headed shield (单头盾构) refers to the method of using a single tunnel boring machine (隧道掘进机) (dig) continuously from one end to the other," said Yin Yihao, an engineer from China Railway's 14th Bureau Group, which was responsible for the tunnel's construction. Yin added that the traditional methods were not applied in the Zhanjiang Bay Undersea Tunnel due to the complicated geological conditions andthe single-headed shield tunnel was (safe) and more efficient in this case.
Wu Chunzhao, a senior engineer of the China Railway Design Company,(explain) the reason for building an undersea tunnel instead of a bridge. "Building a tunnel preserves (v.保护) the beautiful urban skyline of the Zhanjiang Bay,avoids the impact of the project on the marine (adj.海洋的) ecological environment," he said. Wu also noted (v.指出) that a bridge will affect the large ships' navigation, but the tunnel will not do this.
The tunnel is a key project of a high-speed railway linking Guangzhou and Zhanjiang in Guangdong.
