By Zhu Beining and Peng Junjun

On the morning of 9th April, in Haimen at the estuary of the Yangtze River, as the giant cutterhead started to roar and rotate, ‘Jianghai’ Tunnel Boring Machine, independently researched and manufactured by China, whose excavation diameter can reach 16.64 meters, successfully started its ‘trip across the Yangtze River’, which marked the official start of boring of the longest underwater TBM highway tunnel in the world —— Haitai Yangtze River Tunnel.

Haitai Yangtze River Tunnel is the fifth tunnel crossing the Yangtze River in the ‘eight dragons crossing the Yangtze River’ transport plan of Nantong. The project starts from Haimen District, Nantong in the north, and ends at Taicang, Suzhou. The overall length of the route is 39.07km. Among them, the length of the tunnel crossing the Yangtze River is 11.185km. It was designed based on the design standard of two-way six-lane expressway. The design speed is 100km per hour.

Haitai Yangtze River Tunnel construction was started in September 2022. It is expected to be completed by 2028.