On December 20, the off-line ceremony for the 96-meter-long behemoth—the Northern Heavy Industries "Jinyang No.1" shield tunneling machine—was successfully held at the Northern Heavy Industries production workshop in Jinsheng Town, Jinyuan District, marking that the first shield tunneling machine independently assembled by a private enterprise in China—Taiyuan Northern Heavy Industries Machinery Co., Ltd.—has been officially put into use. After going offline, this giant "steel earthworm" will be applied to the tunneling project of Metro Line 2.
As soon as one enters the Northern Heavy Industries production workshop, the author saw that the "Jinyang No.1" shield tunneling machine almost occupied the entire workshop. It consists of two parts: the head and the supporting equipment, including the cutterhead, shield body, connecting bridge, and 7 trolleys. The overall assembly began at the end of June this year and took 6 months to successfully complete trial operation.
The blue cutterhead of the "Jinyang No.1" shield tunneling machine looks like a large upright disc, over ten meters high, with the brightest color, and is connected to the white shield body to form a cylinder about ten meters long and about 6 meters in diameter. Although it looks a bit cute, when actually operating, it is like a large spiral drill bit that can continuously tunnel underground with full power. The cutterhead, shield body, and connecting bridge are connected, also over ten meters long. Further back are 7 trolleys containing various instruments and equipment, which are very complex. The successful off-line of the "Jinyang No.1" shield tunneling machine is the result of the first cooperation between Taiyuan Northern Heavy Industries and the well-known domestic enterprise China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, and also a major breakthrough for Northern Heavy Industries in exploring the field of shield tunneling machines for the first time. This shield tunneling machine will be used for the construction of the section from Kuangji Station to Xijianhe Station of the 14th bid section of Metro Line 2, and is expected to complete hoisting and start operation in early January 2018.
Taiyuan Northern Heavy Industries Machinery Co., Ltd., located in Jinyuan District, was established in 2006 and mainly engages in the research, development, and manufacturing of various metallurgical, mining, lifting, coking equipment, and other products. Every year, a variety of high-performance products are successfully tested and stably produced. The successful development of this shield tunneling machine will provide another major national heavy equipment for China's infrastructure construction. It is expected that next year, Taiyuan Northern Heavy Industries will manufacture and assemble 2-4 more shield tunneling machines to serve the construction of Taiyuan's rail transit.