China Ships First Self-Developed TBM to Philippines

A hard-rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) passed inspection at China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited (CRCHI) Second Industrial Park in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, on May 18, and was then ready for shipment to the Philippines.

It will be the first China-developed TBM with complete independent intellectual property to be exported to the Philippines, and will be used to construct the diversion tunnel of the Kaliwa Dam project.

The 372-meter long machine, which weighs 1,000 tons, has an installed capacity of 3,800 kilowatts and an excavation diameter of 4.8 meters. It will excavate 17.55 kilometers through complicated geological conditions and is expected to set a new record for tunneling distance of overseas tunnel projects with Chinese enterprises' participation.

The Kaliwa Damn is a major infrastructure project built by China and the Philippines under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Its reservoir has a designed capacity of 57 million cubic meters and can provide 600 million liters of water for local domestic use.

The hard-rock TBM with an excavation diameter of 4.8 meters is ready for shipment to the Philippines on May 18. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The hard-rock TBM to be exported to the Philippines passes inspection at CRCHI Second Industrial Park in Changsha, Hunan Province, on May 18. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)