As a key node project of Guangzhou's newly planned "third axis"—an important corridor of the Guangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, the Yuzhu Tunnel's construction progress is unexpectedly fast.

According to the official WeChat account of China Railway 18th Bureau Group, a site mobilization meeting for the Yuzhu Tunnel project was recently held in Guangzhou to deploy related work.

At the meeting, Yan Guangtian, general manager of China Railway 18th Bureau Group, required adherence to the concept of "winning by speed", quickly opening up the situation, and fighting the opening battle of the Yuzhu Tunnel project; using immersed tube tunnels as a sharp tool to open up the market, and building the Yuzhu Tunnel into a first-class project, brand project, and image project.

The total construction period of the Yuzhu Tunnel is 1461 calendar days, lasting about 4 years. It is planned to start construction in June 2021 and is expected to be completed and open to traffic in mid-2025.

01

Central Enterprise Takes the Lead

Huangpu Observer noted that the Yuzhu Tunnel project has been included in the 2021 Guangzhou Key Project Plan announced by the Guangzhou Development and Reform Commission on March 18.

The construction project list shows that in 2021, Guangzhou has a total of 666 key formal construction projects with an annual planned investment of 341.7 billion yuan; and 111 preparatory projects with an annual investment plan of 18.6 billion yuan.

Among them, the Yuzhu Tunnel is one of the four cross-river tunnel projects to be started in Guangzhou in 2021. The other three tunnel projects are the Chebei Road-Xinjiao East Road Tunnel Project (Huangpu Avenue to Xingang East Road), the Huizhan West Road Cross-River Tunnel, and the Linjiang Avenue-Yuejiang Road Cross-River Tunnel.

Huangpu Observer learned that on March 18, China Railway 18th Bureau won the bid for the Yuzhu Tunnel project with a contract value of 3.29 billion yuan.

According to the previous tender announcement for the project's general construction contracting and operation & maintenance services, China Railway 18th Bureau will participate in the construction of the Yuzhu Tunnel and provide operation & maintenance services for 3 years from the date the project is put into use.

The Yuzhu Tunnel is built by China Railway 18th Bureau, and its engineering specifications and quality are worth looking forward to.

Official public information shows that China Railway 18th Bureau Group is a flagship enterprise of China Railway Construction Corporation, a Fortune Global 500 company. The company was originally the 8th Division of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Railway Corps, established in October 1958. In January 1984, it was collectively transferred to the Ministry of Railways. In March 2003, it was placed under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council along with China Railway Construction Corporation. In March 2008, it was listed as a whole with China Railway Construction Corporation.

The 18th Bureau has participated in the construction of more than 100 railway projects such as the Qinghai-Tibet and Chengdu-Kunming railways, more than 60 high-speed railways such as Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Guangzhou, more than 250 expressways such as Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Shenyang, and more than 1,500 municipal projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Hainan Boao Channel, and Tianjin Haihe Tunnel.

02

Three Nodes Constructed in Two Phases

The Yuzhu Tunnel has a total length of about 4.104 kilometers, including a tunnel section of 2.454 kilometers, of which the immersed tube section under the Pearl River is 935 meters long. The project is classified as an urban main road, with a red line width of 60 meters, two-way six lanes inside the tunnel, and a design speed of 60 km/h (50 km/h in some sections).

The route alignment is: starting from Xingang East Road in Haizhu in the south, going north under the Pearl River and Beidi Sand Island, then under Huangpu Avenue and connecting to the ground, continuing north as an embankment through Lianxi Village, and after crossing Zhongshan Avenue via an overpass, connecting with the existing Zhuji Road.

The Yuzhu Tunnel project has three nodes: Xingang East Road, Huangpu Avenue, and Zhongshan Avenue.

It is reported that due to the huge amount of demolition and relocation involved along the Lianxi Village section in Tianhe north of Shenchong, which needs to be carried out in conjunction with urban renewal work, the Yuzhu Tunnel is divided by Shenchong and implemented in two phases.

Among them, Phase I starts from Xingang East Road in Haizhu in the south, uses an immersed tube tunnel under the Pearl River to connect to the planned Zhuji Road corridor, goes north under Huangpu Avenue and connects to the ground, ending south of Shenchong.

The Phase I route is 2.682 kilometers long, including an embankment section of about 3.9 kilometers. The main line maintains two-way six lanes, and the interchange ramps are set as single or double lanes.

Phase II mainly implements the main line section north of Shenchong, the ground auxiliary roads, and the Zhongshan Avenue interchange node.

Schematic diagram of the Xingang East Road node on the south bank of the Pearl River

For the Huangpu Avenue node on the north bank of the Pearl River, the main line interchange form is adopted, with the section south of Shenchong and the U-turn ramp, and ground auxiliary roads on both sides.

03

Zhuji Road Widening

According to the latest plan, the Yuzhu Tunnel extends north to connect with Zhuji Road, and Zhuji Road will be widened to two-way 8 lanes.

At present, the general construction contracting tender for the northern section (Guangyuan Expressway-Zhucun Zoumagang Road) of the Zhuji Road Widening Project (Phase I) has been completed.

The Zhuji Road Widening Project has a total length of 2.78 kilometers (including 0.7 kilometers across the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway that does not require construction), a width of 42.5 meters, two-way 8 lanes, and is classified as an urban main road with a design speed of 60 km/h.

The Zhuji Road Widening Project (Phase I) has been included in Guangzhou's 2021 key construction project plan. Tianhe District is intensifying demolition and relocation efforts and will start construction in mid-2021.

In the future, after the Yuzhu Tunnel opens, it will help improve traffic connections between the Science City, Financial City, Yuzhu Core Area and the University City, Innovation City and other science and technology innovation belts. The fastest connection between the two banks will take only 5 minutes, greatly improving commuting efficiency.

At that time, Huangpu Yuzhu area, Haizhu District, and Tianhe District will be "connected with one click" by this tunnel, tightening their industrial connections.

04

Three Cross-River Tunnels to be Built in Huangpu

The Yuzhu Tunnel, which is about to start construction first, is also an important move in Huangpu District's planning and promotion of "one river, three banks" interconnection over the past two years.

In addition to the Yuzhu Tunnel, Huangpu District will also plan to build three cross-river tunnels in the near future, including: Shayuzhou Tunnel (Shihua South Road-Shayuzhou) 5.07 kilometers, West District-Hualong Tunnel 3.76 kilometers, and the West District-Machong Tunnel 3.4 kilometers proposed in 2020.

According to the plan, two cross-river tunnels are reserved for the long term: one is the southern extension of Xieshan West Road, crossing under the Pearl River to connect Changzhou Island and extending south to Panyu; the other is the southern extension of Xinhua Road, crossing under the Pearl River, passing through Dahao Sand Island, and connecting to Panyu.

That is to say, in the future, for example, in about 15 years, Huangpu District may have 6 cross-river tunnels, effectively "shaking hands" with Haizhu, Panyu, and Dongguan Machong on the river banks, turning the natural barrier of the Pearl River into a thoroughfare.

The Huangpu District Party Congress held in early 2021 further clearly proposed to accelerate the construction of the West District-Machong and West District-Hualong cross-river tunnels and promote the interconnection of "one river, three banks".

The Shayuzhou Tunnel starts from the south side of the Huangpu East Road and Shihua Road node in the north, and connects to the planned Shihua Avenue on the south bank. The total length is about 5.07 kilometers, including a tunnel section of about 3.44 kilometers, two-way six lanes; the Shihua Avenue section (south section of Shayuzhou Tunnel-Nanda Trunk Line) is about 1.51 kilometers, two-way eight lanes, with a design speed of 60 km/h. The total investment is about 5.059 billion yuan, funded by the Guangzhou Municipal Finance.

Alignment map of Shayuzhou Tunnel

The West District-Hualong Cross-River Tunnel starts from Jinshan Avenue in Hualong in the south and ends at Dongjiang Avenue in the West District in the north, with a total length of about 3.76 kilometers, two-way six lanes, and a design speed of 60 km/h. Among them, the newly built cross-river tunnel is about 3 kilometers long, and the road reconstruction length is about 1.7 kilometers; one new viaduct is built, about 0.4 kilometers long. The total investment is about 4.74 billion yuan, funded by the Guangzhou Municipal Finance.

The West District-Machong Cross-River Tunnel follows Zhicheng Avenue, uses a shield tunnel to cross the Dongjiang River, and connects to the Shuixiang Avenue extension on the Machong side. The route is 3.4 kilometers long with a design speed of 60 km/h. The cross-river tunnel uses two-way six lanes, with a total length of 2,760 meters. The total investment is about 3.9 billion yuan, funded jointly by Guangzhou and Dongguan.

The four cross-river tunnels planned for recent construction have a total length of about 16.33 kilometers and a total investment of more than 18 billion yuan, which is a big move.

Among the latter three cross-river tunnels, the Shayuzhou Tunnel has already carried out survey and design bidding in 2020, but the start time is not yet clear.

Huangpu Observer learned that the West District-Hualong Tunnel has been included in Guangzhou's key preparatory projects. Currently, the feasibility study report is being prepared, and efforts are being made to complete the preliminary design and obtain the budget estimate approval before the end of June 2021, and to move into the implementation stage in the second half of this year.

As for the West District-Machong Cross-River Tunnel, the construction plan is being prepared. Given that the project is a major cross-city and cross-Pearl River waterway project, relevant coordination and project approval work require support from provincial and municipal higher-level departments.

At present, Guangzhou has initially included the West District-Machong Tunnel in the recent construction plan of the fast channel from the city center to major areas, and has clearly designated the Municipal Transport Bureau and the Huangpu District Government to jointly lead the project construction. It is planned to sign a co-construction agreement with Dongguan before the end of June 2021 and strive to start construction before the end of 2022.

After the four tunnels planned for recent construction are opened to traffic, they will effectively relieve the traffic pressure on both banks of the Huangpu section of the Pearl River.