Currently, the trial section of the Huangling-Yan'an Expressway capacity expansion project in Shaanxi Province is in full swing. On the gully-riddled Loess Plateau, a Bauer BG40 owned by China Railway 14th Bureau Group has become a hot topic among construction workers.

Bauer BG40 drilling rig

For the Yuni River Grand Bridge in Section 4 of the project, the pile foundation uses 32 group piles with a diameter of 2 m and a depth of 60-70 m, socketed into moderately weathered sandstone with a maximum rock-socketed depth of 21 m. The Bauer BG40 quickly completed the first pile cap of the entire line within a short time. It then moved to the Lijiawa Grand Bridge in Section 5 and won successive victories, achieving 100% Class I piles and repeatedly ranking first in the owner's construction progress evaluations over several months.

Project managers with many years of engineering construction experience exclaimed: "A machine used for twelve years still performs like this—truly impressive. Working with Bauer rigs really puts your mind at ease."

The project management department of CCCC Tunnel Engineering Bureau, which is constructing the Yuni River Bridge, gave the following credit assessment: "Since entering the site, the Bauer BG40 team has overcome terrain and geological difficulties, been responsive to the client's urgent needs and concerns, and worked together with the client to overcome difficulties. It has achieved good results in both progress and quality and made a huge contribution to completing the first pile cap of the entire line for the client, receiving praise from the client, the owner, and the chief supervisor's office."

This BG40 rig was introduced by China Railway 14th Bureau Group from the German company Bauer in 2001 and was the largest rotary drilling rig in China at that time. Over the past twelve years, this "rig king" has participated in the construction of major projects such as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Railway, the Coastal Expressway, and the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway. Fighting north and south and overcoming difficulties, it has often been specially requested by clients and dispatched thousands of miles to construction sites to handle thorny engineering problems. According to the user, in many years the equipment spent more than ten months on site.

Site manager Mr. Liu has been with this machine through cold and heat for a full twelve years since it entered China. Whenever he talks about this Bauer BG40, Mr. Liu is proud: "We run around the country like a fire brigade—wherever there is a tough nut to crack, we go there."

The subsequent main contract sections of the project are about to start one after another. It is reported that Sections 7, 8, 11, and 16 have all invited the Bauer BG40 rig team of China Railway 14th Bureau Group, hoping that the rig can work in their sections. As the project progresses, this Bauer BG40 rig will play an even greater role in the construction of the Huangyan Expressway, achieving new successes and rendering new meritorious service.