On March 29, the world's largest-diameter high-speed rail shield machine "Linghanghao," independently developed by China, successfully completed its 11.18-kilometer construction task in the underwater section of the Yangtze River. Since starting its journey from Chongming Island, Shanghai, on April 29, 2024, "Linghanghao" has undergone 23 months of safe excavation, crossing the south bank levee of the Yangtze River to safely arrive in Taicang, Jiangsu Province. Having successfully "landed," it is now one step closer to precisely reaching the No. 2 shaft "maintenance station."

The "Linghanghao" shield machine, utilized in the excavation and construction of the Chongming-Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel, has set a global record for a 15-meter-class large-diameter shield machine achieving a one-time continuous excavation of 11,182m for the first time, completing an unprecedented "ultra-long run" under the river.

The Chongming-Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel serves as a critical, controlling bottleneck project for the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway along the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway corridor of China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed railway network. Connecting Chongming District in Shanghai with Taicang in Jiangsu Province, the tunnel has a total length of 14.25 km, with the shield-driven section measuring 13.201 km. It is currently the cross-river high-speed railway tunnel project with the highest construction standards, the longest excavation distance, and the largest scale in China.

Currently, the landmark project of the "15th Five-Year Plan" major engineering initiative—the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway—is stepping up construction. It will extend all the way from Shanghai to Chengdu, linking three major city clusters and stretching for approximately 2,000 km.

Every inch the high-speed rail extends broadens the opportunities for development. Tunneling and bridge building have driven the research, development, and customization of over 200 sets of large equipment, such as shield machines and bridge-building machines; rail laying has brought in sales orders for 570,000 t of high-strength special steel; even the precast concrete segments used for tunnel assembly have spawned an intelligent manufacturing factory. With a total investment of over 500 billion yuan, the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway is estimated to drive nearly 1.5 trillion yuan in value-added growth for upstream and downstream industries.

A brand-new economic corridor is also rapidly taking shape. By overlaying the route map of the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway with the distribution map of national-level advanced manufacturing clusters, it will link up over a quarter of the country's national-level advanced manufacturing clusters. Moreover, it will connect nearly 40% of the national key laboratories, allowing innovation resources to flow faster along the tracks. Looking even closer, new high-speed rail stations are breaking ground, and more than 20 small cities along the line will enter the 350 km/h era for the first time. The spatio-temporal distance is being significantly compressed, bringing development opportunities right to their doorsteps.