On April 19, 2022, a shield machine "Aoqin No. 1" with a cutter head painted with the pattern of Macau's landmark "Three Bars Arch" rolled off the assembly line in Changsha. The diameter of the shield machine is 7.98 meters, and the equipment power is about 2560 kilowatts. It will participate in the construction of the tunnel project of the extension of the Hengqin Line of the Macao Light Rail Transit. This will be the largest diameter shield machine used in Macau.

Zhu Hanjun, Deputy General Manager of CRCC Overseas Department, introduced that the tunnel section of the Hengqin Line extension of the Macao Light Rail Transit is about 906 meters long and needs to pass through the shallow overburden of Shizimen Channel. The shallowest overburden is only 6.7 meters, the maximum longitudinal gradient is 35‰, and the minimum turning radius is 210 It puts forward strict requirements on the configuration and performance of the shield machine, and also brings a lot of risks to the shield construction.

Zhang Weidong, director of the CRCC Earth Pressure Shield Institute, said that the shield machine adopts a double-joint design for ultra-small turning radius, which can cope with a turning radius of 150 meters. It is equipped with advanced geological detection, high-precision gas-liquid balance, and visualization in the soil bin. A series of intelligent systems such as monitoring, automatic measurement of shield tail clearance, and compensation of shield radial clearance have greatly improved the safety performance of construction.

"Aoqin No. 1" is planned to be shipped to the Zhuhai Hengqin construction site in early May 2022 for equipment assembly and delivery. After the shield machine starts, it will go down through the Cross Gate Waterway and excavate in the direction of Taipa, Macau.Editor/Ma Xue