The powerful machine is expected to be ready for factory testing in January. - By metro, China and Serbia continue the story of friendship that transcends time and space
The Belgrade Metro is a priority project within the state investment plan of Serbia and part of the "Belt and Road" initiative, but also a testimony of the friendship between our country and China. The construction of the first metro line, for which our city has been waiting for a whole century, was entrusted to the experienced company "Power China", which currently works at 51 locations in China, and this is its first metro on European soil.
- As the first line of the Belgrade metro enters the phase of actual construction, this historic city in the Balkans is at a crucial moment in realizing its "hundred-year dream" of a metro. With this subway, China and Serbia continue the story of friendship that transcends time and space - they said in "Power China".
On March 17, they began additional geological surveys on one section, which marks the project's entry into the phase of real progress.
- This is not only a key step for the first metro line in Serbia, but also shows that decades of anticipation is slowly turning into reality. Supplementary geological surveys represent the previous phase of the construction of the metro. Within them, internationally leading technologies of geophysical measurements, drilling and 3D geological modeling are used. In this way, the structure of the soil is precisely mapped, the distribution of underground water and the mechanical parameters of the soil are determined, which provides a solid basis for precise design, high-quality construction and risk control - they state in this Chinese company and note that the first phase of the first line is 15.4 kilometers long, that it will have 15 stations and 10 vertical shafts.
- In Beijing, we had a high-level meeting with representatives of the "Power China" company. We have already signed three contracts with them for the first phase and negotiations for the fourth are currently underway. By signing this contract, we will complete the talks for the first phase of the first line, which will extend from Makiš to the Pančevo Bridge – said Andreja Mladenović, Acting Director of the Belgrade Metro.
– In Beijing, we had a high-level meeting with representatives of the Power China company. We have already signed three contracts with them for the first phase and negotiations for the fourth are currently underway. By signing this contract, we will complete the talks for the first phase of the first line, which will extend from Makiš to the Pančevo Bridge – said Andreja Mladenović, Acting Director of the Belgrade Metro.
Our delegation traveled from Beijing to the city of Changsha, where the CRCHI (“China Railway Construction Heavy Industry”) production facility is located. There they could see two "technically powerful machines" - a tunnel boring machine (TBM) or "moles", as we call them. CRCHI is one of the largest manufacturers of tunnel digging machines of various profiles and performances in the world. So far, they have produced more than 1,700 "moles" that dug more than 6,000 kilometers of different types of tunnels from those intended for railways, roads, water management...
- At the headquarters of the CRCHI factory, we had the opportunity to see for ourselves the size of the entire complex, as well as their capacities. They produce about 200 different "ti-bi-ems" annually. Currently, their machine works in Paris, they have 15 in Italy and one in Switzerland. Their "mole" also dug in Bor, which they are particularly proud of - said Mladenović.
He mentioned that they were at the factory headquarters to see the machine parts that will be delivered to Belgrade.
- We expect that the machine for factory testing will be ready in January. Our representatives will be at that testing to make sure that it is ready for digging in Belgrade. Because each of the machines is made according to the specification and based on the submitted documentation and researched geology. This means that the machines that are made for our metro can be used in Belgrade and nowhere else - emphasizes Mladenović.
If the machines pass the test, and everyone hopes that there will be no problems, they will be disassembled, packed and shipped to the port of Constanta in Romania. From there, they should be transported along the Danube to two places in Belgrade. At Čukarica, at Beli vode, from where one mole will start work, and at Pancevac bridge, from where another will begin work. They will meet each other along the route of the first line. The first 11 kilometers of the tunnel will be excavated, and both machines should be removed at the station at the Fair. These powerful machines will perform almost 70 percent of the tunneling work of the first phase of the first line.
- The "mole" composition that resembles a train is between 100 and 120 meters long. The outer diameter of the digging knives is nine and a half meters, and the inner diameter is 8.55. The machine is designed so that it simultaneously digs, lays rings and concretes, that is, builds a tunnel. She has her own crew, which consists of twenty specially trained members in one shift. It is planned to work in three shifts and once it starts, it will not stop - says Mladenović.
The moles will have a "rest" only in stations that must already be prepared in terms of concrete construction. Knives will be changed there or small jobs will be done there if necessary. The stations are located at a distance of about a kilometer, and the machine works on average about ten meters a day.
- Working on the machine is a very demanding job, and the crew that operates it follows extremely strict rules because they work thirty meters underground. We were told that these are professional and responsible people, and we will try to familiarize our engineers with the operation of this machine. Because, in the first phase of the construction of the subway, two machines will be used, in the second phase with one more, and there should certainly be three more machines on the second line - explains Mladenović.
Since "Power China" performed a large part of the tunnel construction work in China and Asia Minor, the question arose as to how different the ground where the metro will be built in our country is different from the terrain where they have worked so far.
- They told us that there is no big difference between us and the place where they worked until now. Of course, when it starts working, we'll see. We undertook everything necessary in relation to geological research, work technology, documentation and handed them over to the contractor - he pointed out.
In the event that archaeological remains are encountered during the works, which would not be surprising when it comes to Belgrade, the company, he says, will take measures as it is done everywhere in the world.
- We are in constant contact with both the Republic and the City Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. They were familiar with all the documentation of the first line, with where the stations will be, in what way they will be dug. If something is found, it will be protected and preserved according to our legal regulations - says Mladenović.
He emphasizes that he expects that everything, when it comes to the metro, will be done at the highest level.
- Both "Power China" and CRCHI are serious partners, who have enormous experience behind them - he pointed out.
In Guangzhou, our delegation visited the metro management center. There they could see for themselves the organization of this mode of transportation in a big city. They saw how 19 metro lines work, the total length of which is 705 kilometers, and the annual number of passengers exceeds 3.2 billion.
This visit strengthened the confidence of the Serbian side that Chinese experiences and equipment become the "accelerator" of the Belgrade metro, emphasized in "Power China". China and Serbia are also actively involving international partners from France and Germany in order to realize this project. Because, as Mladenović said, this is not just digging a tunnel and building a few stations, but changing the way of traveling in the entire city, and "Power China" is the most reliable partner in this business.
