Shanghai Metro Turns 25 Years Old, and It Shares Half-life Relationship with STEC

2019-02-19

On May 28 25 years ago, that is, on May 28, 1993, Shanghai Metro Line 1 Phase 1, the Jinjiang Amusement Park to Xujiahui Section, was officially opened to traffic. 

From the construction of metro test sections, to the run-through of the main line tunnel, then to the design and construction of the railway network throughout the city of Shanghai... STEC has witnessed and participated in the whole development process of Shanghai Metro from scratch to one line, then to a metro network consists of 17 lines with total length of 673 kilometers, which is one of the world's largest rail transit networks.

25 years of Shanghai Metro: from "one line" to an "octopus"
Starting from 1960, the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Bureau (now STEC Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd.) had started the shield drivage test in Tangqiao, Pudong District, which kicked off the construction of Shanghai Metro.

In the following half century, under the leadership of Shanghai Municipal Government and Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, the design and construction enterprises and builders represented by STEC have turned Shanghai Metro from "one point" to "one line" and eventually to an "octopus". As the "behind-the-scenes heroes" of metro construction, they have paid countless efforts and sweat…

From "one point" to "one line": the era of urban metro kicked off
Construction of Shanghai Metro began in the 1960s, and the earliest metro could only be called "one point". In February 1960, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Bureau began the shield drivage test in Tangqiao, Pudong District, using a shield with diameter of 4.2 meters to build two assembled reinforced concrete segment lining test tunnels of 25.2 meters and 37.8 meters, which were the prototype of Shanghai Metro and even of the tunnels in China using the shield tunneling method.

The first test base of Shanghai Metro, Tangqiao, Pudong District, is now where the office of the Shield Company of STEC Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd. seats and where the people of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering took the first step in the construction of Shanghai Metro. The original underground railway plan designed and tested the Shanghai underground railway with the function of "combination of both peacetime and wartime use".

In November 1964, Shanghai decided to implement a metro expansion test project on the Hengshan section of the planned metro line in conjunction with the war preparations. The people of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering used shield tunneling method to tunnel one shaft, one station and two tunnels with length of 600 meters in the Hengshan section.

Then it came to the 1970s. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, with the development of the reform and opening up, construction of Shanghai Metro was put on the agenda again!

From 1979, Liu Jianhang, the "father of tunnels in China" and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, started to serve as Vice Manager and Chief Engineer of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd. Under his leadership, the people of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering once again launched the test section of the Caobao Road Station on Metro Line 1, which accumulated valuable first-hand information for the construction of Shanghai Metro. The structure design of the 6.2 meters metro tunnel segment, the construction technology of shield tunnel in urban area, and the underground continuous wall metro station project scheme that came from the test results laid the foundation for the large-scale development of the Shanghai Metro construction.

In August 1986, the State Council approved the project initiation of Phase 1 of the Shanghai Metro Line 1 project; in March 1987, Shanghai began to raise funds for the construction of the metro, and accepted the quotes with investment from foreign business delegations; in February 1988, the State Council officially approved the project feasibility study report.

On January 19, 1990, construction of Shanghai Metro Line 1 was started. This line is also the first metro line in China that uses shield tunneling method in construction on a large scale!

The Phase 1 of Shanghai Metro Line 1 starts from Jinjiang Amusement Park in the south, and runs to Shanghai Railway Station in the north, with a total length of 16.21 kilometers and 13 stations (2 ground stations and 11 underground stations), which are completed by 7 shield machines in various sections. Among them, the No. 1 shield undertaken by STEC took the lead in launching the tunneling. Based on Shanghai's geology, ground load and environmental conditions, the builders improved the earth pressure balance shield of FCB Company from France, and accumulated important technical experience for metro shield construction of Line 1 and future lines. On May 28, 1993, with the joint efforts of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering and other units, the Phase 1 project of Shanghai Metro Line 1 was successfully completed and opened for trial operation!

Metro lines, tunnels and overpasses are the most precious memory of the people of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering.
After the completion of Shanghai Metro Line 1, STEC and its subsidiaries including Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, Shanghai Road and Bridge (Group), Shanghai Urban Construction Municipal Engineering (Group), and Shanghai Urban Construction Design & Research Institute continued to undertake the important responsibility of the construction of Shanghai Metro. In the subsequent 25 years, the people of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering have participated in the construction of each line of Shanghai Metro Line 1-18.

Shanghai Metro Line 2, which runs through Shanghai from east to west. The picture shows builders from STEC celebrated the completion of the entire line of Shanghai Metro Line 2.

Shanghai Metro Line 7, which is the first overall designed rail transit line of STEC and the first line in China to use the "network construction concept" in the design of rail transit lines. The "network construction concept" significantly improves anchoring of network and efficiency. In addition, leading technologies such as new covered excavation method and automatic pneumatic caisson construction were also used for the first time in this line.

Shanghai Metro Line 8, which is the first metro line that adopts the "double-circular shield tunnel" in China. STEC applied double-circular shield tunnel excavation on the line for the first time in China, beginning the application of the Chinese double-circular shield, non-circular shield and other methods in the field of urban rail transit construction.

Shanghai Metro Line 9, during the construction of which STEC solved the problem of rail transit construction in complex environments. In the Xujiahui-Zhaojiabang Road section, the shield crossed the tunnel of Line 1 section with the nearest distance of 0.8 meters in the premise of tunneling in shallow covering soil of 4.2 meters deep with no auxiliary measures such as foundation reinforcement. In addition, Xujiahui Station adopted the design and construction method of using transformed basement as metro station for the first time, avoiding the impact of underground space construction in the urban core area on the surrounding urban environment.

Shanghai Metro Line 11, which is the first rail transit line crossing provincial administrative regions in China. STEC undertook the overall design and adopted the main branch line Y-line planning. The line connects Kunshan in the west and the Shanghai Disneyland in the east.

Shanghai Metro Line 13 (the Expo Line), on which Shanghai's deepest metro station -- the Rail Transit Hanzhong Road Hub seats.

Shanghai Metro Line 16, which is the first inter-city rail transit line in China and one of the fastest urban rail transit lines in China, with a top speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

The Jing'an Temple Station, Wuning Road Station and Dashijie Station on Shanghai Metro Line 14. Under extremely difficult conditions, the people of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering tackled the tough target of high risk and technical difficulties, helping the "octopus" -- the Shanghai Metro network continuously grow up!

At present, the Shanghai Shield Intelligent Control Center built by STEC gives Shanghai Metro a pair of "wings of technology", making the metro construction more efficient and intelligent. The tunnel maintenance and emergency support team that works in the underground space of Shanghai everyday makes the metro operation safer and the citizens feel more reassured.

The daily average passenger flow of Shanghai Metro has exceeded 10 million. The tunnel construction carried out by the people of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering has helped to create one of the world's largest rail networks, allowing every citizen in Shanghai to enjoy the most convenient urban transportation.