Marine exploration for the Jintang underwater tunnel finished two months...

Marine exploration site. (Photo by Shen Sunhui and Yu Kexin)

The 10-month marine exploration of the section from Ningbo Qijiashan to Zhoushan Jintang of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Expressway double line was fully completed on the afternoon of April 9th, two months ahead of the original plan. This means that the Jintang underwater tunnel is not far from being officially excavated.

The starting point of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Expressway double track project is connected to the Qijiashan hub in Ningbo, and the tunnel passes through the Jintang Waterway to land at the Dapukou of Jintang Island in Zhoushan. The total length of the route is 18.038 kilometers. After the completion of the project, it will provide high-speed and convenient services for the transportation of the Ningbo and Zhoushan area, the dredging of Ningbo Zhoushan Port, and some transit transportation, adding new momentum to the construction of a world-class port in Ningbo Zhoushan Port and the integrated development of Ningbo and Zhoushan.

As an important component of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Expressway double track, the Jintang Subsea Tunnel is currently the largest shield tunnel constructed on an undersea highway in China, with the characteristics of being super large, super long, and super deep. This exploration operation has a total of 296 exploration and construction boreholes. Through in-depth analysis and research on the seabed strata, a large amount of data has been obtained, which helps the construction unit to better understand the characteristics of the seabed strata and provide scientific basis for tunnel construction.