In September, 2019 China started the shield excavation of the Jinan Yellow River Tunnel, known as the "first” tunnel of the Wanli Yellow River according to the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC).

The diameter of the tunnel excavation will reach 15.76 m, which is the country's widest shield tunnel for both rail and road transport. The Jinan Yellow River Tunnel Project is located in the centre of Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province. The tunnel will connect Magpie Mountain to Jinbei Sub-Center in the north and Jinan Road in the south.

The total length of the tunnel is 4.76 km, of which the shield section is 2519.2 m long and the outer diameter of the segment is 15.2 m. The inner diameter is 13.9 m. The design is double pipe and double layer: a two-way six-lane highway is on the upper level and the lower level is reserved for rail transit, flues and escape channels.

Two super-wide slurry balance shield tunnelling machines (diameter 15,76 m, co-developed by the China Railway 14th Bureau Group and Jinan Urban Construction Group, have been deployed to participate in the excavation.

The tunnel will cross the "suspended river" for the first time, the river bed is about 5 meters above downtown Jinan, above the surface of the Tianqiao area on the south bank. The Yellow River Tunnel passes through stratum mainly consisting of clay and silty clay. The clay has high cohesion and causes tool wear, tool teeth collapse, mud cake on the cutter head, and a large amount of waste slurry can plug the suction port. Two 15.76 m diameter mud-water balance shield machines will be used in tunnel excavation, each of which is 166m long and weighs 4000 t.  Each cutterhead is equipped with 347 cutters. The maximum excavation speed is 45mm/min, the designed maximum water pressure is 7.5bar, and the minimum turning radius is 750m.  The project is scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic in 2021. Visit http://english.crcc.cn/  and http://www.jnsj.com.cn/enabout . 38/19.