Recently, the first construction project of the follow-up project of the South to North Water Diversion Project, the "Yangtze River Diversion Project", received good news. The main tunnel has accumulated over 20 kilometers of excavation, marking a significant progress in the construction of this national water network backbone project.

10 steel dragons excavate together

Underneath the towering mountains of Hubei, a silent yet vigorous' underground Long March 'is underway. As the "water replenishment pipeline" of the South to North Water Diversion Project, the Yangtze River to Han River Diversion Project has a total length of about 194.7 kilometers and will divert water from the Yangtze River to the Han River, thereby supplying the "South Water" heading north. At present, the cumulative excavation of the main tunnel has exceeded 20 kilometers, completing 10.3% of the total mileage. At the same time, the cumulative excavation of the construction support tunnel also exceeded 36.9 kilometers.

All of this is inseparable from a massive cluster of intelligent equipment. The project has invested 10 full section tunnel boring machines (TBMs), a giant equipment known as the "underground aircraft carrier". Now, 8 of them have started excavation, forming a strong trend of cluster operation. They traverse complex and ever-changing geological formations, constantly breaking the record for long-distance tunnel excavation in China.

Digital twins empower the Sunshine Project

Faced with complex geological conditions and extremely high environmental requirements, engineering builders have deeply rooted the concept of "green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver" in every step of construction. China South to North Water Diversion Group has innovatively proposed the management iron law of "exploration before excavation", and strictly implemented refined control measures such as tunnel length system, one tunnel, one policy, first article recognition, and four-color plates to ensure project safety and quality.

What is even more remarkable is that engineering construction is comprehensively moving towards intelligence. Through the high standard construction of the Yangtze River and Han River digital twin project, a virtual project that grows synchronously with the physical project and is linked in real time has emerged on the screen. This not only enables visualization and intelligent management of the construction process, but also enables risk prediction and scheme optimization, striving to create an intelligent construction model project for the national water network, ensuring that every inch of progress can withstand inspection.

Strengthen the water safety barrier of Chinese path to modernization

The significance of the Yangtze River and Han River Diversion Project is profound. The average annual water transfer volume of the project has reached 3.9 billion cubic meters. After completion, it will greatly enhance the water supply capacity and guarantee rate of the South to North Water Diversion Middle Route Project, and alleviate the shortage of water resources in North China. At the same time, it will significantly enhance the water resource allocation capacity of the Han River Basin and the region, and create key conditions for achieving long-term water transfer goals in the future Han River to Wei River Diversion Project.

The steady progress of the project cannot be separated from the continuous support of national leading labor and skills competitions. China South to North Water Diversion Group takes this as a starting point to stimulate the enthusiasm and innovative vitality of builders. In the next step, the Group will continue to strengthen scientific and technological innovation, practice green development, focus on the overall goal of connecting the whole line of the project, and strive to write a new chapter in the grand blueprint of the national water network construction, so as to make a solid contribution to ensure that "a clean water will continue to move north" and build a Chinese path to modernization water security barrier.Editor/Yang Meiling