Sino-German R&D Shield Machine Boosts Localization of High-end Heavy Equipment

The shield tunnel boring machine manufactured by the China National Construction 7 Bureau and the German Herrenknecht Group formally went offline in Deyang, Sichuan. The localization rate of the entire machine reached 60%, breaking the Sichuan shield machine market by joint ventures and outside Sichuan. The monopolistic situation of enterprises further enhances the international competitiveness of domestic high-end heavy equipment manufacturers.

“In today’s economic globalization, China’s machine manufacturing capabilities are becoming more and more solid, steadily rising to the high end, and the ability to innovate is impressive.” Herrenknecht AG is the global market leader in mechanized tunnelling technology. Nicolas Zuber, Chief Executive Officer of Herrenknecht Asia Headquarters, stated: "China is a big manufacturing country in the world and has now moved away from labor-intensive industries to high-end heavy equipment manufacturing."

It is reported that the shield machine has a diameter of 8.6 meters, a machine length of 114 meters and a total weight of nearly 800 tons. It is one of the largest diameter shield machines in Sichuan Province and has an active hinge system. Its biggest feature is " Compact and flexible, it can be used to tunnel through the bridge and building pile foundation in a narrow underground space. After successfully exiting the line, it will be “in service” on the 18th subway line of Chengdu Metro. The daily driving distance is about 10 meters, and it can be pushed 300 meters per month. about.

Nicolas Zuber also stated that “at present, the country is in a period of rapid urbanization. The construction of urban underground transportation and city comprehensive pipe corridors is in the ascendant, providing broad prospects for the development of heavy equipment such as shield machines.” China Electric Power Construction and Hydropower Seventh Bureau Shen Maoxia, general manager, said: “The Herrenknecht Shield Machine Project has provided important technical support for the construction of Chengdu Metro, a typical case of successful cooperation between German companies and central enterprises, and a major attempt to remanufacture the core competitiveness of the manufacturing business and create a market. ."

It is reported that China Water Conservancy & Hydroelectric Jiajiang Hydraulic Machinery Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as “Jiajiang Hydraulic Engineering”), as the research and development unit of the core technology of the shield machine, has cooperated with Herrenknecht since April 2016 to complement each other's strengths. From machine maintenance to assembly, to key component manufacturing, and gradual product upgrades, the first shield machine was completed in just one year.

As a matter of fact, the shield machine is a symbolic product of the equipment manufacturing industry. It is predicted that by 2020, 36 cities in China will have subways, and the cumulative operating mileage of urban rail transit will reach 11,042 kilometers. According to incomplete statistics, at present, about 85% of shield tunnelling machines in China rely on imports. The shield machines of companies such as Europe and Japan dominate the market of shield tunnelling machines in China. “The shield machine is a major equipment with strong individualization, great technical difficulty, wide connection, and large market demand. With the arrival of a new round of metro construction in the country, the local substitution of shield machine imports is the future. Objectives and main tasks.” Xu Shaobo, general manager of Jiajiang Waterworks, told reporters that because of the customized characteristics of the shield machine, its manufacturing needs different configurations of the shield machine according to different geological conditions, and the degree of automation and intelligence is very high. High, enterprises should continue to absorb advanced foreign technologies while strengthening their independent innovation capabilities, but also need policy support and supervision and guidance to promote the healthy and sustainable development of enterprises.