Hunan-made Self-developed TBM Exported to the Philippines

A hard-rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) is being prepared for shipment to the Philippines after being cleared for export at the China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited (CRCHI) Second Industrial Park in Changsha on May 18, 2021. This is the first time that TBM designed and manufactured in China is to be exported to the Philippines.

It is large and powerful. Total length is 372 meters. It has an excavation diameter of 4.8 meters, a gross weight of 1,000 tons, and an installed power of 3,800 KW.

The cutter-head, which is on the right is painted white, red, and blue, which are the three colors of the Philippine national flag. The “shaking hands” pattern indicates expectations for China-Philippines friendship and cooperation based on mutual respect, trust, and equality. “It is named ‘Jasmine’ or ‘Sampaguita’ in Filipino, which is the national flower of the Philippines,” said Yang Fangming, general manager of CRCHI Overseas Business Department.

The “Jasmine” TBM will be used in tunnel construction at the Kaliwa Damn which is a key part of the Philippine water source plan. CRCHI technicians customized the machine for the complicated tunnel geology. It will tunnel 17.55 km, a Chinese overseas projects tunneling distance record.

The Kaliwa Damn is an important infrastructure project jointly built by China and the Philippines as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The reservoir has a capacity of 57 million cubic meters.It can provide 600 million liters of water for residential use in the Metro Manila (NCR) daily.

Chinese source: hunan.voc.com.cn