A pair of cutterheads fabricated by DavyMarkham for Robbins have been despatched from the UK for assembly in China, where the main beam TBMs are to help excavate a major rail project in Gansu province.
The cutterheads, each weighing 226 tonnes, are for two 10.2m TBMs to be used on the West Qinling project, which is to link the city of Longnan with the towns of Waina, Luotang and Fengxiang.
The machines will be used by contractor China Railways 18th Bureau (Group) Co to bore parallel, 16.6km long single-track rail tunnels for the project.
DavyMarkham doubled its welder workforce through contract hire to work three shifts, six days per week for faster fabrication of the cutterheads. The turnaround was about a third faster to meet Robbins accelerated programme, it said.
The cutterheads were despatched last month in modular components to Robbins’ assembly facility in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The TBMs will then be dismantled for transport and reassembly on the West Qinling site.
