On August 1, the world’s first Boring and Blasting Machine (BBM), jointly developed by China Railway Hi-Tech Industry and its subsidiary China Railway Science & Industry Group, both under CREC, in collaboration with Tsinghua University, officially rolled off the production line at the Jiangxia Manufacturing Base in Wuhan, filling a gap in integrated construction equipment for tunnels in complex geological conditions.
This innovative equipment combines the advantages of the two major mainstream tunneling methods—tunnel boring and drilling-and-blasting. It features an innovative hollow cutterhead structure and, through the coordinated operation of the hollow cutterhead and central cutterhead, can flexibly switch among multiple operating modes, including “blasting first, excavation second,” “excavation first, blasting second,” and “full-face excavation.” It combines the advantages of advance drilling-and-blasting pretreatment with continuous mechanized excavation, overcoming the limitations of traditional construction methods. The machine incorporates multiple proprietary technologies, comprehensively improving the refined management and control of construction in complex geological tunnels: retractable side cutters enable tangent-circle enlargement excavation, allowing flexible adjustment of excavation cross-section dimensions and improving the efficiency of equipment relocation within the tunnel; an adaptive telescopic tail shield accommodates segment linings of various specifications and can complete variable-diameter lining assembly in sections subject to rockbursts and large deformation, ensuring the stability of the support structure; an explosion-proof cylinder absorbs blasting impacts to protect the main machine and precision components; and two independent belt conveyor systems separately transport excavated spoil and aggregate, optimizing construction organization and workflow. The equipment provides an entirely new technical solution for the construction of long and large tunnels in complex geological conditions and represents a major achievement of industry–university–research collaboration in the field of high-end underground engineering equipment in China.
The Boring and Blasting Machine breaks away from the established design approaches of similar equipment in China and abroad, with the entire machine and its core components independently controllable. It can meet the construction requirements of major projects such as transportation corridors, major water conservancy facilities, and deep-earth development. The machine will subsequently be deployed for demonstration applications at a pumped-storage hydropower project, while the R&D team will continue to iteratively optimize its performance based on data collected from field trials.
