The reporter learned from China Railway Construction Corporation Limited that on the 26th, China's first large shield tunneling base supporting wharf project—the Wuhu Large Shield Tunneling Base Supporting Wharf—started construction.
According to Li Dongsheng, commander of the Wuhu Large Shield Tunneling Base Construction Command of China Railway 14th Bureau, the supporting wharf project is located in the Baimao Port Area of Wuhu Port, Anhui Province. It is planned to build two 10,000-ton berths, capable of accommodating three 5,000-ton ships. It will mainly be used for the transportation of shield components, segments, steel, cement, sand and gravel materials, etc. The designed annual throughput is 2.45 million tons, and it is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in October 2018.
It is understood that the wharf is a supporting project of the Wuhu Large Shield Tunneling Base. The Wuhu Large Shield Tunneling Base integrates segment production, large shield cutter production, new product research and development and technical training, and shield machine storage and maintenance. Since it started producing segments, the key components supporting tunnel structures, in March this year, the base has produced 20,000 segments.
Zhang Tingjun, chairman of China Railway 14th Bureau, stated that over the years, China Railway 14th Bureau has continuously constructed more than 60 shield tunneling projects, achieving full coverage in the field of shield tunneling construction under rivers, lakes, seas, and bustling cities. After the wharf is completed, the products produced by the base can cover the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the southeastern coastal areas, greatly improving transportation efficiency and changing the previous problem of only being able to use land transportation with excessively high costs, providing important support for expanding and strengthening shield tunneling projects.