TBM/EPB for building the Xian Metro

摘要

In the historic city of Xian famous for the Terracotta Army the 26.4 km long Metro Line 1 is under construction. It runs from north to south through the centre of the city. In contract section 12 two identical tunnelling machines (TBM/EPB) from Robbins, with 6.20 m cutter-head diameter, are driving 2 parallel, roughly 2.3 km long tunnel bores. In the process 4 railway stations produced inrnadvance by cut-and-cover have to be passed through. Lifts and settlements must on no account exceed 15 mm in order to protect structural damage to the historic buildings that must be undertunnelled. The 2 TBM were started up in May 2010. Further Metro lines are planned in order to relieve the evergrowing surface traffic and improve the mobility of the city's inhabitants.