Two Sany crawler cranes are helping to construct the Jiaozhou Bay subsea tunnel, the world’s longest undersea tunnel.
The two crawlers played a pivotal role in assembling the cutter of the 142m long, 600-tonne “Hai Tian” tunnel-boring machine that is set to develop a new undersea tunnel measuring 17.48km in length and 15.63m in diameter once completed. With space already limited on site due to all facets of the tunnel boring machine having arrived, the decision was made to use the two Sany crawlers – the SCC12000TM and SCC4000A-2 – in tandem to provide greater lifting height and stability in a confined area.
As the auxiliary crane, the 400-tonne capacity crawler, which possesses a maximum boom length of 123m and a maximum lifting moment of 5328 torque-meters, played a supporting role to the larger SCC12000A. The SCC12000A holds a maximum boom length of 165m, a maximum lifting capacity of 800 tonnes, and a maximum lifting moment of 12000 torque-meters. For the job, it was equipped with a 42m main boom, operated at a 17m lifting radius, and utilised a 20m super lift radius. In all, it took both the 800-tonne and 400-tonne Sany crawler cranes three hours to securely assemble the cutter and the body of the tunnel boring machine.
Spanning across Jiaozhou Bay, the new subsea tunnel will connect eastern and western parts of Qingdao and will descend to 115m below sea level. The tunnel, which began construction in 2020, is set to open to the public in 2027.
Sany’s products are distributed Australia-wide through Tutt Bryant Equipment.
READ MORE:
- Sany shines for Tutt Bryant Heavy Lift & Shift.
- Sany SCL10000 arrives in Chile.
- New Sany C6 crawler cab launched.
