Shanghai Rail Transit Metropolitan Line Airport Connecting Line Project

Construction unit: China Railway Tunnel Bureau

Device Number: The project employs multiple tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for construction, but there is no unified equipment numbering system. The core equipment boasts a rich variety of unique names, including “Jiyue,” “Qiyue,” “Hongpu,” “Xinchuanyue,” “Dongfang,” and “Mingzhu.” Among these, the “Hongpu” TBM is used for Section 11, while the “Jiyue” and “Qiyue” TBMs are responsible for tunneling tasks in Section 3.

Cutting disc diameter: The project’s main construction equipment consists of ultra-large tunnel boring machines (TBMs) with a diameter of 14 meters. Among them, the cutterhead diameters of “Hongpu,” “Dongfang,” and “Mingzhu” are 14.04 meters, while those of “Jiyue” and “Qiyue” reach 14.07 meters. In addition, the project has also deployed two large TBMs with diameters of 9 meters to support the construction work.

Tunneling length: The entire project has a total length of 68.6 kilometers, of which approximately 56.6 kilometers are underground tunnel sections—this constitutes the core excavation portion. The excavation lengths vary among different sections; for example, Section 3’s shield tunnel section has a total length of about 7.855 kilometers, Section 11’s segment from the Resort Station to the Lingkong Road Transfer Shaft measures 4.72 kilometers, and Section 13 includes key excavation segments such as the back-passage section from the Pudong Airport Working Shaft to the Zhujiao Working Shaft.

Project Features: Shanghai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Management Committee.

Leading smart construction technology: The “Jiyue” vessel is equipped with ultra-large-diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM) synchronous jacking and segment assembly technology, enabling excavation and segment installation to be carried out in “parallel.” As a result, the average time required for each ring has been reduced to 85 minutes, boosting efficiency by nearly 30%. In Section 11, the “Hongpu” TBM was deployed to implement an intelligent construction system for shield tunneling, setting a new industry record of 32 meters per day and 650 meters per month for 14-meter-class shield tunneling operations.

Construction risk management is highly challenging: The construction area traverses central urban districts such as Minhang, Xuhui, and Pudong, requiring the tunnel to pass beneath existing lines—including Metro Line 12—and numerous critical buildings and structures. For instance, Shaft No. 2 of Section 3 is located adjacent to the elevated section of the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway; during shield tunneling reception, there was a high risk of water and sand inflows, so the underwater reception method was ultimately adopted to mitigate these risks. In Section 13, the tunnel segment passing beneath the Pudong Airport terminal has an overburden depth exceeding 50 meters, making it the deepest shield tunnel segment in Shanghai. Moreover, this segment requires long-distance tunneling through sandy layers.

Strict construction accuracy control: During the tunneling of the "Dongfang" and "Mingzhu" projects, the misalignment and gaps between tunnel segments are controlled within 3 millimeters, and ground settlement is kept below 2 millimeters, ensuring "zero leakage" on the tunnel surface and minimizing the impact on the surrounding environment.

Year of commencement: The project was completed on June 28, 2019.

Year of completion: The project is scheduled for December 27, 2024.