On October 8, the first shield tunneling machine for the entire Guangdong Water Resources Allocation Project in the Beibu Gulf Rim, "Yuehai Huanbei No. 8," was launched at the No. 2 shield shaft of the Lianjiang Tunnel on Section D1 in Lianjiang, Zhanjiang, marking the project's official entry into the shield tunneling construction phase. The reporter learned on site that a total of 12 shield tunneling machines and 12 TBM units will be deployed across the entire project. Among them, the shield tunneling machines will bore a total tunnel length of 45 kilometers, with all launches planned before mid-2026, while the TBMs will bore a total tunnel length of 114 kilometers, with all launches planned before 2026.

As the province's inter-basin water diversion project with the largest diversion flow, the longest water conveyance route, the most complex construction conditions, and the highest total investment, the project draws water from the Xijiang River and delivers it via pumping stations under pressure to the four cities of Zhanjiang, Maoming, Yangjiang, and Yunfu. Once completed, the project will increase annual water supply by 2.079 billion cubic meters, benefiting 18 million people. To date, 58 work zones across the entire project have commenced construction, more than 700 sets of large-scale machinery and equipment have been mobilized to the sites, and approximately 2,700 meters of tunnel excavation and about 5,310 meters of buried pipeline have been completed.

"The shield launching section for this construction is a critical link in the Zhanjiang branch trunk line of the Guangdong Water Resources Allocation Project in the Beibu Gulf Rim, and its launch will provide strong support for accelerating the construction of the Zhanjiang branch trunk line," said Long Haibo, head of the Zhanjiang Management Department of Guangdong Yuehai Yuexi Water Supply Co., Ltd. However, the terrain and geology in this work zone are complex, placing extremely high demands on the shield machine's attitude control capability and mucking performance.

Long Haibo stated that to adapt to the geological characteristics, the shield machine is equipped with a six-spoke composite shield cutterhead, incorporates multiple advanced innovative technologies and independent core key technologies, and applies a new "multi-channel + multi-circuit" mucking mode design, which can effectively resolve the issues of chamber blockage and pipe blockage caused by stagnant discharge, thereby improving the tunneling efficiency and safety assurance of the shield machine under complex geological conditions.