MHI Receives Order for Two TBMs from China - cn/28Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has received an order to supply two earth pressure balance shield tunnelling machines to China Construction First Group Ltd, a Beijing-based major construction affiliate of the Chinese government, for tunnel construction on metro line 4 in Beijing. The machines, each having a diameter of 6.14 m, are slated for delivery in mid-January 2005. They will be used on this new 28.65 km metro line planned to link Majiapu and Beigongmen. The project is managed by Beijing MTR Construction Administration Corp. The line is due to commence operation for the 2008 Olympic Games.The order brings the total number of shield tunnelling machines purchased from MHI by China to 29. MHI ranks first among Japanese suppliers to China in terms of volume of orders for machines of this kind. To date, MHI has received orders for more than 1,600 shield tunnelling machines. Overseas orders account for 108 units. Orders from China have mainly involved tunnelling in Shanghai and Guangzhou but also Shenzhen and Nanjing. It is the first order for MHI's TBMs to be used in Beijing. Visit www.mhi.co.jp/indexe.html 30/04.