At the construction site of the Genting Tunnel of the China Communications Construction Malaysia East Coast Railway Project, the open hard rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) "Genting No. 1" with the largest diameter exported from China has recently completed the joint commissioning and testing of the whole machine, and the shield construction will be officially started soon. .

Shortly after graduating from university, 22-year-old Wang Hengyang came to Malaysia to participate in the Malaysia East Railway project, one of the important projects of the Belt and Road Initiative. After several months of training and study, Wang Hengyang became the operator of the huge machine "Genting One". He had an uncontrollable pride and excitement.

The "Genting No. 1" cutterhead is about 9 meters in diameter, 266 meters in length, and has a total weight of more than 1,600 tons. The single-head construction distance is 13 kilometers. It is the underground "Big Mac" with the largest diameter and longest construction distance in Southeast Asia so far. Compared with the traditional drilling and blasting method, the TBM construction efficiency can be increased by 2 to 3 times, which plays a vital role in the entire project.

The Malaysia East Railway project undertaken by China Communications Construction is designed to be more than 600 kilometers long. After completion, it will become an "overland bridge" connecting the east coast and west coast of the Malay Peninsula, driving the economic development of the east coast area and greatly improving the connectivity of the areas along the line. . The Genting Tunnel is located in the hinterland of the project. A single tunnel with a total length of 16.39 kilometers is a control project of the East Malaysia Railway Project.

The inside of the tunnel, which is more than 200 meters deep into the mountain, is hot and humid, and the roar is deafening. Walking inside, there is a feeling of being cramped in a deep-sea submarine. Working in tunnels in work clothes and helmets is a great test of human endurance. Dong Yuanxin, who is in charge of the maintenance of TBM's electrical equipment, travels through the long mechanical dragon every day.

"Every time I go to work, I must first hand over the work with my colleagues in the previous shift, timely check for hidden dangers, solve problems, and ensure the stable operation of electrical equipment," said 22-year-old Dong Yuanxin.

"We need to check about 280 main items, and it takes about 3 hours to check all of them. It is like finding a few grains of sand from a pile of rice. It is difficult to find the sand, but it is easier to clean up the sand after finding it." The 32-year-old Wei Zhao Dong, head of the security team, said. "Maintenance work must be down-to-earth, pay attention to details, not let go of every problem, nip hidden dangers in the bud, and strive to ensure good and stable operation of TBM machinery and equipment."

On April 29, 2022, Zhao Dong (right), the head of the TBM maintenance team, and operator Wang Hengyang check the equipment at the construction site of the Genting Tunnel of the Malaysia East Coast Railroad Project near Bentong, Malaysia

Sun Guangbing is responsible for the construction management of the open and dark holes of the Yunding Tunnel in the deepest part of the tunnel, which is about three stories high on the cutter head. Sun Guangbing, 35 years old this year, has worked overseas for 9 years and has left his footprints in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Sun Guangbing said: "Although I have worked overseas for many years, this is the first time I have participated in such a large-scale project of East Railway Malaysia. As a construction manager on site, we must not only ensure construction safety, check the construction quality and progress, but also how to improve various projects through management innovation. Work-type collaboration efficiency is also our constant pursuit of goals.”Editor/Ma Xue