A 6.28m diameter EPBM delivered by NFM to Line 2 of the Wuhan underground metro project in China has completed its first 1,068m drive between the Fanhu and Qingninanlu metro stations north of the city.

Delivered to tunnelling contractor B1 in early 2009, the machine was commissioned in record time in March 2009 with the on-site assembly phase taking just 15 days. With a top rate of 93m bored in one week, the machine maintained a regular pace of more than 70m/week to complete the 1,068m drive through water-saturated clay in just three months. After its breakthrough in June, the machine has been re-assembled at the central working shaft and is ready to excavate a 1,200m section of metro line in the opposite direction.

First three lines of Wuhan's metro network

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province and located on the banks of the Yangtze, started revenue services on its first metro line in September 2004, becoming the fifth city in China after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, to have a mass transit system. The first 10.2km line has 10 stations and is an elevated system. Line 1 is currently being extended in both directions to a total 30km with an additional 16 stations.

Subsequent lines are designed mostly underground with Line 2, from Hankou and under the Yangtze to Wuchang, and Line 4, from Wuchang under the Yangtze to Hanyang. Construction is anticipated to be complete in 2010. These first three lines are the start of a planned network of seven lines totalling 220km to be built over the coming decades. Lines 3, 5, 6 and 7 are currently in the planning phases.

On Line 2, NFM customer B1 is said to be particularly satisfied with the machine's performance as well as with the on-site teams's efficiency and the co-operation with NFM Technologies.