Shield Tunneling Machines
On October 1, 2021, Underground Infrastructure Technologies Corporation, newly established based on the joint incorporation type company split with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., hereafter will provide Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) business ((including the design, development, repair and sales of TBMs, civil engineering machines, etc., and their parts; however, excluding manufacturing related business) .
Underground spaces are used for railways, roads, underground rivers, new physical distribution systems, garbage incineration facilities as well as energy-related facilities, and their application is expanding to huge underground cities. A technology that is indispensable for creating these underground spaces is the technology of shield tunneling machines.
Since it began manufacturing shield tunneling machines in 1967, We have delivered more than 1,200 units to domestic and overseas customers. We will continue to develop technologies for shield tunneling machines and contribute to building social infrastructures through the creation of underground spaces.
Major products
Earth pressure balance (EPB) shield tunneling machine
The EPB machine stabilize face by controlling chamber pressure filled with excavated soil to resist earth and water pressure. It is applied to wide range of ground conditions such as highly permeable ground, low overburden and boulder. It is also applied to large boulder by equipping with ribbon screw conveyor. We delivered Dia. 13.6m EPB machine in Japan and it achieved breakthorugh successfully.
Slurry-type shield tunneling machines
The slurry-type shield tunneling machine excavates ground while preventing the face from collapsing by using the pressure of circulated muddy water in the cutter chamber. Excavated soil material is transported as fluid slurry to the slurry treatment plant and separated into muddy water and soil. This shield tunneling method can be applied to large-diameter tunnels and high-water-bearing tunnels, and is suitable for use in severe working conditions such as tunneling under the sea or rivers. We have experience in manufacturing slurry-type shield tunneling machines up to a maximum diameter of 14.14 meters.
Boulder or hard rock shield tunneling machine
This is a shield machine that can crush boulders and bedrock at the face in order to make it possible to excavate ground that contains boulders or bedrock. The machine is designed to accommodate flat, semi-dome and dome cutter heads depending on the ground conditions, as well as both carbide tip insertion type and quenching type disk cutters. The largest diameter built to date is 10.82 meters.
Specialized shield tunneling machines
For variant cross-sections or construction conditions, we provide a variety of specialized shield tunneling machines such as the multi-face shield tunneling machine, rectangular or horseshoe-shaped shield tunneling machine, built-in parent-child shield tunneling machine that changes its cross-section in the ground, mechanical docking shield tunneling machines that are connected to each other in the ground, and a side docking shield tunneling machine that connects to an existing tunnel.
Related technology
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