"Begin advancing," "Start the cutterhead"... On August 12, the super-large-diameter slurry shield machine "Hongchuan Hao" (Red Boat), jointly developed by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group and China Railway Tunnel Group, was successfully launched in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. As the cutterhead of the "Hongchuan Hao" shield machine slowly rotated, this major national equipment integrating technology, environmental protection and high efficiency officially began its journey beneath Fenhu Lake.

The Fenhu Lake Tunnel is a controlling project along the entire Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo High-Speed Railway. Located in Jiashan County, Jiaxing City and Wujiang District, Suzhou City, it spans Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. Constructed using the "shield method + cut-and-cover method," the tunnel has a total length of 3,732 meters and is designed as a single-tube, double-track tunnel with a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

The cutterhead of the "Hongchuan Hao" shield machine has a diameter of 14.82 meters, with a total length of 115 meters and a total weight of approximately 4,000 tonnes. In response to the unique geological conditions of Fenhu Lake, the shield machine integrates a series of intelligent systems, including a shield intelligent interconnection project collaborative management and control application system, a trackless horizontal transport safety dispatch system inside the tunnel, and a green and environmentally friendly slurry separation process, striving to minimize environmental impact and achieve safe, high-quality, intelligent and green tunnel construction.

The "green" concept refers to the shield machine's successful achievement of effective slurry separation and recycling through the deployment of an efficient environmentally friendly slurry treatment system and intelligent management system, ensuring maximum resource utilization and minimum environmental impact, truly achieving green tunnel construction.

The "red" heritage refers to the shield machine's ingenious integration of Jiaxing's regional characteristics. The equipment's name and cutterhead pattern are inspired by the Red Boat of South Lake in Jiaxing, symbolizing "the place where dreams set sail," fully demonstrating the essence and heritage of China's revolutionary red culture.

As an important component of the coastal corridor of China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed railway network, the Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo High-Speed Railway holds a very important position in the rail network. Once the project is completed, it will play an important supporting and safeguarding role in promoting the high-quality flow and allocation of factor resources in the core area of the Yangtze River Delta, accelerating the formation of innovative industrial clusters, and empowering the construction of Chinese-style modern metropolises, new-type towns and high-tech innovation parks.