The Tuen Mun - Chek Lap Kok TBM otherwise known as Qin Liangyu or more formally, the Mixshield S-880 was the world's largest tunnel boring machine launched in June 2015 by Herrenknecht in Germany.[1][2] The TBM was used to drill a 5 km tunnel connecting Tuen Mun to the Hong Kong International Airport, part of the Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link project. The cost of the tunneling machine itself was around HK$ 18.2 billion (US$ 2.3 billion)[3]
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok/Qin Liangyu |
| Builders | Herrenknecht AG |
| Operators |  China |
| Cost | US$2.3 billion (2015) or HK$18.2 billion (2015) |
| In service | 2015-2020 |
| Completed | 1 |
| Retired | 1 |
| History | |
| China | |
| Name | Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok/Qin Liangyu |
| Builder | Herrenknecht AG |
| Commissioned | 2015 |
| Fate | Disassembled after 2020 |
| Notes | The largest tunnel boring machine ever built |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Mixshield S-880-type Tunnel boring machine |
| Tonnage | 4,850 tonnes (4,770 long tons; 5,350 short tons) |
| Length | 120 metres (390 ft) |
| Beam | 17.6-metre-diameter (57.7 ft) |
Specifications
editThe machine had a diameter of 17.6 metres (57.7 ft),[4] 0.1 metres (0.3 ft) more than Bertha, the previous largest tunnel boring machine.[5][6] Outside of its cutting diameter, it had an overall length of 120 metres (393 ft 8 in) and weighed 4,850 tonnes (5,346 US-tons).[2]
Operations
editThe machine would excavate a 5 km-long underwater tunnel, working at pressures as high as 5 bars. The drilling had taken place in depths of up to 50 m below sea level.[7]
By 25 March and 3 November 2015, the TBM's shield was converted into one the much smaller 14-m to complete the rest of the tunnel alongside another Herrenknecht TBM.[2] The two 14-m TBMs broke through to complete the tunnels on 27 February 2019.[2]
The tunnel boring project began in October 2018 after the cutterhead conversion and was completed by the end of 2020.[8] Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok was disassembled after the completion of the tunnel.[8]
References
edit- ^ "5 Biggest Tunnel Boring Machines in the World". ASME.
- ^ a b c d "Largest tunnel boring machine". Guinness World Records.
- ^ "Start-up for world's largest TBM". Construction Briefing.
- ^ "Herrenknecht, Pioneering Underground Technologies. Visit of Herrenknecht AG by KIVI Engineering Society TTOW. Martin Forster, Technical Manager Sales | Traffic Tunnelling. Schwanau, 22.09.2016" (PDF). COB.nl.
- ^ "bouygues confirms largest tunnel boring machine launch". geeplus.co.uk. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
- ^ "Long-Term Relations Between Joint Venture Partners – A Supplier's Perspective" (PDF). eic-federation.eu. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
- ^ Wallis, Shani; Kenyon, Peter (25 September 2014). "Hong Kong mega-machine explanations". TunnelTalk. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
- ^ a b "World's Biggest Tunnel Boring Machines". Constructionsht.