Bangladeshi PM inaugurates mining work of China-funded tunnel project

[SBUS-CXK]

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveils the foundation plaque of China-funded mega-river tunnel project in Chattogram, Bangladesh, Feb. 24, 2019. The mining work of a China-funded mega-river tunnel in southeastern Bangladesh started on Sunday. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the main structural work of the project by unveiling its foundation plaque on Sunday morning. China Communication Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) has been constructing the "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel" beneath Karnaphuli river with Chinese soft loans. The tunnel construction is to make Chattogram "One City Two Towns" based on a model of east and west Shanghai of China. The 3.4-km-long four-lane tunnel, the first of its kind in Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, will shorten the ride between Chattogram Airport to a planned industrial park from four hours to 20 minutes. (Xinhua/PID)

DHAKA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The mining work of a China-funded mega-river tunnel in southeastern Bangladesh started on Sunday.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the main structural work of the project by unveiling its foundation plaque on Sunday morning.

China Communication Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) has been constructing the "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel" beneath Karnaphuli river with Chinese soft loans.

The tunnel construction is to make Chattogram "One City Two Towns" based on a model of east and west Shanghai of China. The 3.4-km-long four-lane tunnel, the first of its kind in Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, will shorten the ride between Chattogram Airport to a planned industrial park from four hours to 20 minutes.

Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd, based in eastern China's Jiangsu province, in last September rolled off shield tunneling machine destined for Bangladesh to assist with the river tunneling project which will be implemented by 2022.

The machine with a diameter of 12.12 meters weighing 2,200 tons will be used for opening the tunnel under Karnaphuli River.

The west bank approach road will be 740 meters and the east bank approach road 4,952 meters.

On June 9, 2014, Bangladesh and China signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of the tunnel in Chattogram city, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka.

Most of the country's export and import activities are being carried out through the city which has the country's largest seaport, situated at the mouth of the Karnaphuli River.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (C, front) views the China-funded mega-river tunnel project in Chattogram, Bangladesh, Feb. 24, 2019. The mining work of a China-funded mega-river tunnel in southeastern Bangladesh started on Sunday. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the main structural work of the project by unveiling its foundation plaque on Sunday morning. China Communication Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) has been constructing the "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel" beneath Karnaphuli river with Chinese soft loans. The tunnel construction is to make Chattogram "One City Two Towns" based on a model of east and west Shanghai of China. The 3.4-km-long four-lane tunnel, the first of its kind in Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, will shorten the ride between Chattogram Airport to a planned industrial park from four hours to 20 minutes. (Xinhua/PID)

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/24/c_137846645.htm

 

[SBUS-CXK]

 

[bluesky]

View attachment 543722
View attachment 543727

The diameter of this tunnel boring machine is 12.12 meter. The machine with a 15.8 m dia has been named "Chunfeng" in China. What may be the name of this machine in BD?

 

[TopCat]

Obaidul Qader is very sick..
Hope he gets well soon...

 

[SBUS-CXK]

The diameter of this tunnel boring machine is 12.12 meter. The machine with a 15.8 m dia has been named "Chunfeng" in China. What may be the name of this machine in BD?

Sorry, I don't know.
But I'm curious. is it working now?

Obaidul Qader is very sick..
Hope he gets well soon...

why？

 

[TopCat]

why？

Heart attack..

 

[Neptune_]

"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel"

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Heart attack..

hope he'll get well soon

 

[monitor]

"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel"

Karnaphuli Tunnel would be must better name
or Shaheed Zia ur Rahman Tunnel

 

[UKBengali]

Karnaphuli Tunnel would be must better name
or Shaheed Zia ur Rahman Tunnel

Important thing is that things are being built.

Names can always be changed later.

 

[Bilal9]

Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd, based in eastern China's Jiangsu province, in last September rolled off shield tunneling machine destined for Bangladesh to assist with the river tunneling project which will be implemented by 2022.

The machine with a diameter of 12.12 meters weighing 2,200 tons will be used for opening the tunnel under Karnaphuli River.

View attachment 543722
View attachment 543727

Brother @Two I read somewhere that this tunnel borer is world's largest....of course these are all custom one-off builds.

This company in China built one for Indonesia as well?

Hitachi is a large builder of these borers.

Prior to this, this size was only made by a German company.

A German company also made one (maybe not as large) for a CPEC project in Northern Pakistan.

Important thing is that things are being built.

Names can always be changed later.

This tunnel will connect the with the EPZ zones (Korean, Chinese EPZ's) and Karnafuli Fertilizer on the other (Southern bank) side of the mouth of the Karnafuli and go on to meet up with the coastal highway all the way leading to Matarbari, then Coxs Bazaar down South.

The tunnel was mainly built to serve the Korean/Chinese/Japanese EPZ's so they could connect with CTG port and the circular ring road on the North bank of the Karnafuli which will also connect with the Southern end of the DAC-CTG Freeway.

This video makes the outer ring road look a bit like the Pacific Coast Highway or the South of France in Cannes but one gets the idea....

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Brother @Two I read somewhere that this tunnel borer is world's largest....of course these are all custom one-off builds.

This company in China built one for Indonesia as well?

Hitachi is a large builder of these borers.

Prior to this, this size was only made by a German company.

A German company also made one (maybe not as large) for a CPEC project in Northern Pakistan.



This tunnel will connect the with the EPZ zones (Korean, Chinese EPZ's) and Karnafuli Fertilizer on the other (Southern bank) side of the mouth of the Karnafuli and go on to meet up with the coastal highway all the way leading to Matarbari, then Coxs Bazaar down South.

The tunnel was mainly built to serve the Korean/Chinese/Japanese EPZ's so they could connect with CTG port and the circular ring road on the North bank of the Karnafuli which will also connect with the Southern end of the DAC-CTG Freeway.

This video makes the outer ring road look a bit like the Pacific Coast Highway or the South of France in Cannes but one gets the idea....

Thank you brother. But now..... this TBM (exported to Bangladesh) is not the largest. It's not even the biggest TBM in China.

Like @bluesky said. The biggest TBM in China is “Chunfeng”—— diameter of 15.8 meters, weighs around 4,800 tonnes and is 135 meters long.

CREG zhengzhou, Henan province.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201809/29/WS5baf6b03a310eff3032804ec.html

Chinese TBM exports to Italy, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Israel, Bangladesh..... and Indonesia?

https://tunnelingonline.com/creg-metalliance-announce-strategic-partnership/

CREG is a leading tunnel boring machine (TBM) supplier and a tunneling full-service provider. CREG specializes in research and development, manufacturing and technical service of a full range of TBMs and tunneling equipment. CREG products have been widely applied to projects in more than 40 cities for metro projects, as well as highway, railway and water tunnel projects. CREG products have been exported to 17 countries and regions including Singapore, Malaysia, India, Italy, Lebanon, Israel and Middle East. So far, a total of 868 TBMs have been ordered and 767 TBMs have been delivered.

CREG is based in China with a European subsidiary – CREG TBM Germany GmbH, based in Erkelenz. CREG TBM Germany GmbH was founded in 2014 as part of the takeover of the tunnel boring business of Aker Wirth.

METALLIANCE is a French company specializing in the research and manufacture of industrial equipment and mobile machinery. METALLIANCE was founded in 1923 and its core business is logistic tunnel vehicles. The METALLIANCE global network is widely distributed in countries such as Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Japan. Since 1993, METALLIANCE has provided different types of MSVs and other tunnel equipment for more than 100 global projects.

 

[bluesky]

Like @bluesky said. The biggest TBM in China is “Chunfeng”—— diameter of 15.8 meters, weighs around 4,800 tonnes and is 135 meters long.

Assumptions about the number of lanes in the tunnel. The width of a single lane may be 2.5m to 3.7m in highways in the USA and Japan. With a 15.8m dia Chunfeng TBM, the width of each lane could have been 3.5m with an allowance of (15.8 - 4x3.5) = 1.8 meter.

This extra 1.8 meter is to give room for the two outer main walls, a midline low-height partition wall with full-height vertical columns at, say, 6m pitch, and six white/yellow lane separation lines.
In the case of Karnaphuli tunnel, a 12.12m dia TBM will be used. In this case, the lane width becomes (12.12 - 1.8)/4 lanes = 2.58m. Though not an ideal width, nevertheless, it can be perfectly used if the traffic speed is kept a little slow.

I have not seen the drawings but considering the assumptions above, I believe the tunnel will be a 4-lane (not 2-lane) narrow road with four 2.58m wide lanes. This width is good enough if the traffic speed is kept low. However, who knows what is the actual planning of the GoB, two wide lanes or four narrow lanes?

Thanks to China for constructing our first underground and under the river bed tunnel. The future will regard it as a milestone in our efforts to develop the country.

 

[GeraltofRivia]

Congratulations to Bangladesh for another mega project. The tunnel will serve the Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway network and connect the new industry parks on the southern bank with the rest of the country more freely.

A few more TBM images on the construction site:

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Assumptions about the number of lanes in the tunnel. The minimum width of a single lane may be 2.5m to 3.7m in highways in the USA and Japan. With a 15.8m dia Chunfeng TBM, the width of each lane could have been 3.7m with an allowance of (15.8 - 4x3.7) = 1 meter.
This extra 1 meter is to give room for the two outer main walls, a midline low-height partition wall with full-height vertical columns at, say, 6m pitch, and six white/yellow lane separation lines.
In the case of Karnaphuli tunnel, a 12.12m dia TBM will be used. In this case, the lane width becomes (12.12 - 1.0)/4 lanes = 2.78m. Though not an ideal width, nevertheless, it can be perfectly used if the traffic speed is kept a little slow.
I have not seen the drawings but considering the assumptions above, I believe the tunnel will be a 4-lane (not 2-lane) narrow road with four 2.78m wide lanes. This is quite good enough for a small and developing country like Bangladesh.

Thanks to China for constructing our first underground and under the river bed tunnel. The future will regard it as a milestone in our efforts to develop the country.

Thank you. you are very professional.