■Large temporary facilities project construction will be started by the end of the year

■Total construction time of the tunnel is about 72 months

By Zhu Beining and Peng Junjun

On 22 March, Hai-Tai cross Yangtze River tunnel project (highway section）project feasibility study report was approved by Jiangsu Development and Reform Commission.

Hai-Tai cross Yangtze River tunnel is located at about 8 km downstream of Sutong Changjiang Highway Bridge. It is a highway and railway composite cross river tunnel confirmed in planning of cross river tunnels in Yangtze River mainstream (2020-2035) published by national development and reform commission. The highway section is the cross Yangtze River infrastructure from Tongzhou bay to Changshu expressway in planning of Jiangsu expressway network (2017-2035). The railway section is the cross Yangtze River infrastructure of Ru-Tong-Su-Hu intercity railway in planning of multi-level rail transit in the Yangtze River delta area. The approval of the feasibility study is the highway section. After feasibility study is approved by Jiangsu development and reform commission, preliminary design, and construction drawing design will be accelerated.

The total length of the project is about 39.2 km. The cross river tunnel is about 11.2 km long. The north connection (Nantong section) is about 15.8 km, the south connection (Suzhou section) is about 12.2 km. The line is designed according to the standard of two way six lane highways. There are 5 interchanges which are Tianbu (hub), Haimen west, Haimen south, Bixi, Zhitang (hub).

The total length of the cross Yangtze River tunnel is about 11.2 km, the TBM section is about 9.3 km. The outside diameter is 16 m. It is the longest cross Yangtze River highway TBM tunnel with largest diameter in China, can be called the top tunnel in the Yangtze River. According to the plan, large temporary facilities project construction will be started before the end of 2022. The total construction time of the tunnel is about 72 months.