China to deliver large tunnel boring machines to Italy

A Chinese company said Wednesday that it will export two large tunnel boring machines to Italy this year.

According to the China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG), two earth pressure balance tunnel boring machines have rolled off the production line in an affiliated company in north China's Tianjin Municipality.

The machines will arrive in Italy by the end of this year for the construction of a 12.8-km tunnel of the Naples-Bari High-Speed Railway, said Yu Gangyang, international division project manager of the CREG based in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

With 12.5 meters and 12.2 meters, respectively, in diameter, the tunnel boring machines will be the largest ones in diameter exported from China to Europe, according to Yu.

The machines are expected to start boring in February and March 2022 in Italy.