Recently, with the lifting and lowering into the shaft of the "Linkong" cutterhead, which has a diameter of 15.08 meters and weighs about 376 tons, the shield machine assembly work for the Shaoxing Qunxian Road project undertaken by China Railway 14th Bureau Group has been basically completed, marking that the "Linkong" shield machine is about to enter the debugging stage, and underground tunnel excavation is imminent.

The "Linkong" shield machine is currently the largest-diameter slurry balance shield machine in Shaoxing, with a total length of 140 meters and a weight of 3,600 tons. It is one of the most advanced and intelligent shield machines currently configured for municipal tunnels, and the cutterhead lowered into the shaft this time weighs about 376 tons.

The cutterhead of the "Linkong" shield machine is the largest and heaviest single component of the shield machine. To ensure the smooth completion of this lifting operation, the project team made scientific arrangements and advanced planning, continuously integrated resources and optimized allocation, formulated a detailed plan for lifting and lowering the cutterhead into the shaft, and conducted multiple lifting simulations. They also carried out detailed lifting safety training and technical briefings for management personnel at all levels and frontline construction workers to ensure precise docking between the cutterhead and the shield body.

On that day, the shield machine cutterhead, dressed in red, slowly rose from the ground with the assistance of an 800-ton crawler crane as the main crane and a 400-ton crawler crane, and after completing a series of operations such as turning over and rotating, it was accurately lifted to the predetermined installation position in the 30-meter-deep shield launching shaft.

After the cutterhead is lifted and lowered into the shaft, the project will carry out construction work such as pipeline connection, synchronous debugging, and negative ring assembly, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent shield launching.

It is reported that the underground tunnel section of the Shaoxing Qunxian Road project is 2.19 kilometers long and is the most important link in Shaoxing's "twelve horizontal, six vertical, and seven connecting" trunk road network. The project is expected to be completed and opened to traffic in 2026. By then, it will open up the "dead-end road" that has troubled residents' travel and vehicle transportation between the two places for many years, and will play an important role in opening up the "major artery" of transportation integrating with Hangzhou and realizing the "half-hour transportation circle" from Keqiao to Hangzhou.