Construction Starts on Tunnel under Yangtze River in WuhanWuhan, capital of Hubei province, wants to decongest the only two bridges over the Yangtze River in the city centre. The 3,609 m-long Changjiang tunnel, designed to resist magnitude 6 earthquakes and floods, will therefore be built between the two bridges to cross the Yangtze River to connect the city centre in the south with the Hankou business district in north Wuhan. The tunnel, which requires an investment of CNY1.7 billion, will carry two lanes per direction and two tracks for metro line 2. Construction commenced on 10th April, 2006 at the Dazhi Road tunnel exit on the north bank. According to plans, the 600 m-long north section from Dazhi Road to Poyang Road will be excavated along Dazhi Road and Beijing Road. The first 200 metres from Mingxin Road to Zhongshan Street will take until 30th December, 2006.NFM Technologies, member of the Wirth Group, is supplying two slurry TBMs, each 11.89 m in diameter, to excavate over a distance of 2,720 m, through difficult geological conditions. The contractor is China Railway Tunnel Group. To avoid environmental accidents such as pollution of the water table or surface subsidence, NFM Technologies has incorporated a Benton'Air® mucking system into the design of these machines. This is an automatic slurry pressure confinement system that ensures greater safety during excavation. Click here for more details.The designs for the TBMs and the manufacture of some of the equipment have been produced by NFM Technologies, while the manufacture of certain components and all assembly have been carried out in China by their local partner, Shenyang Heavy Machinery Group. The first tunnel is expected to open in the second half of 2008. Click here. Read E-News Weekly 50/2004, 18/2002 & 13/2002. Visit www.nfm-technologies.com and http://english.wh.gov.cn 22/06.