China-built giant prepares for NZ's biggest transport project
Updated: 2013-03-06 15:08
(Xinhua)
|
|||||||||||
WELLINGTON -- The biggest ever transport project in New Zealand history is a step closer to completion with the handover of a massive China-built tunneling machine -- the 10th largest of its kind in the world, the New Zealand Transport Agency said Wednesday.
The state-of-the-art tunnel boring machine was designed and built over 14 months at Germany's Herrenknecht factory in Guangzhou, southern China, specifically to drill twin 2.5-km tunnels -- each wide enough for three lanes of traffic -- for Auckland's expanding motorway system, according to the NZTA.
The NZ$50-million ($41.62 million) TBM's circular cutting head was more than 14 meters wide -- the equivalent of a building three storeys high -- and the machine was almost 100 meters long.
"The size of this project and the size of the tunnel boring machine are both on a scale the likes of which we have never seen before in New Zealand," NZTA state highways official Tommy Parker said in a statement.
The machine would be dismantled for shipment to New Zealand and was due to arrive in Auckland in July before being reassembled to begin tunneling in October.
Moving at a speed of 80 mm a minute, or 0.0005 km per hour, the TBM was expected to take a year to complete the first tunnel.
The tunnel project, costing NZ$1.4 billion, has been designated a "road of national significance" by the New Zealand government and is expected to promote business growth, tourism and jobs in the country's most populous city.
Related Stories
China allocates $22b to fund transport projects 2011-07-05 16:01
China to check city rail transport projects for safety 2011-05-12 09:03
China, Myanmar sign MoU on rail transport project 2011-04-28 11:08
Work begins on massive transport projects 2008-05-08 07:14
Today's Top News
Police continue manhunt for 2nd bombing suspect
H7N9 flu transmission studied
8% growth predicted for Q2
Nuke reactor gets foreign contract
First couple on Time's list of most influential
'Green' awareness levels drop in Beijing
Palace Museum spruces up
Trading channels 'need to broaden'
Hot Topics
Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
Editor's Picks
|
|
|
|
|
|











