On May 30, 2023, the entire shield tunneling section of the underground comprehensive pipe gallery project in the central urban area of Guangzhou was successfully completed. As the largest and longest multifunctional underground ring tunnel under construction in China, the smooth completion of this project has laid a solid foundation for its full production.

The underground comprehensive pipe gallery project in the central urban area of Guangzhou has a total length of 45.7 kilometers, crossing five main urban areas: Haizhu, Tianhe, Baiyun, Yuexiu, and Liwan. It is arranged in a circular pattern, and the sections are all constructed using shield tunneling method. After completion, 18 planned substations, 11 current substations, 12 water plants, and booster pump stations will be connected, greatly improving the guarantee and emergency capacity of power and water supply in the old city area, achieving comprehensive balance and remote scheduling of power and water supply in the city, forming a major dynamic of underground pipelines in the central city area, improving the functional quality and urban environmental quality of the central city area of Guangzhou, and ensuring the lifeline of the city.

Since the commencement of construction, the participating units, faced with various difficulties such as changeable geology and complex surrounding environment, have made scientific planning and careful organization to cross the the Pearl River River system three times, cross the existing railway three times, cross the existing subway operation line 16 times, cross the subway line 11 in more than 30 places, and cross dangerous old houses and sensitive buildings and structures in more than 20 places.

It is understood that the total length of the 25 # -24 # shield tunnel section that was connected this time is 1253.234 meters, with a vertical section of V slope and a plane line of S-shaped three continuous small radius curves, successively crossing the operating line, elevated bridge, and numerous structures. Faced with the risks of posture exceeding limits and pipe segment misalignment during the excavation process, the project construction team fully summarized the previous successful crossing experience, accurately controlled the amount of soil and grouting during the excavation process, and reasonably adjusted the grouting parameters, effectively ensuring the control of the propulsion axis. At present, the project has successfully crossed the existing subway operation line for three times and the old housing complex for four times. It has successfully overcome the biggest difficulty in tunnel construction along the whole line, realized long-distance safe underpass of Liwan Lake, and completed the shield tunneling construction of shallow overburden and long-distance weak stratum underpass of the Pearl River.

It is reported that a total of 310 kilometers of pipeline corridors have been constructed in Guangzhou, 90 kilometers have been completed and put into use, and 220 kilometers of pipeline corridors are under construction. A comprehensive pipeline corridor framework system with the central ring line as the core, several radiation rays as the extension, and a combination of trunk and branch cables has been preliminarily formed. Editor/Xie Li