Urbanization drives demand for tunneling machines

Orders for homegrown equipment soar on growth in large infrastructure projects

BEIJING - A super large tunnel boring machine (TBM) measuring 15.03 meters in diameter has begun an underwater tunneling project in Shantou city, in South China's Guangdong province.

Measuring 130 meters long and weighing 4,800 metric tons, the slurry TBM, with a maximum thrust of 25,000 tons, can cope with complex terrains such as soft silt and hard granite bedrock, according to its manufacturer the China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co. Ltd. (CREG), one of the leading TBM suppliers worldwide.