Construction has recently advanced into the Yellow River section of the Huanggang Road Yellow River Crossing Tunnel in Jinan, Shandong Province, a project undertaken by CRCC. The tunnel's shield boring has now reached 1,658 meters, marking the halfway point in the excavation process.

The Huanggang Road Yellow River Crossing Tunnel spans approximately 5,755 meters in total, with 3,290 meters requiring shield tunneling technology. With an excavation diameter of 17.5 meters, it holds the distinction of being the world's largest underwater shield tunnel.

Engineers face significant challenges as the riverbed consists of silty clay interspersed with hard calcareous nodules. This composition resembles a sticky cake embedded with hard "date pits," causing rapid wear on cutting tools and creating numerous technical difficulties that slow progress. To overcome these obstacles, the construction team implemented several innovations: increasing the cutter head opening rate to 53%, enhancing central flushing pressure, enlarging slurry pipeline diameter, and installing stone crushers with dual-circuit hydraulic collection systems to ensure smooth tunneling operations.

The project has already achieved remarkable success, successfully navigating several high-risk zones including a primary water source protection sedimentation basin. The team has established a new world record for tunneling of this scale, achieving 426 meters of progress in a single month. The completed sections show excellent structural integrity with no leakage and superior finish quality both inside and out.

As a vital infrastructure project for Jinan City, the Huanggang Road Tunnel will dramatically improve connectivity between the main urban center and the development zone, accelerating the city's overall growth and development.