As the construction of the Yukun High-Speed Railway progresses, builders are continually exploring new technologies for research and application. This railway is a key component of China’s “eight vertical and eight horizontal” high-speed rail network, specifically within the Jing-Kun corridor.

At the Sonming beam yard in Sonming County, Yunnan Province, the sound of machinery fills the air, where various machines are efficiently operating to produce U-shaped steel bars at a rapid pace.

“We have developed a four-axis horizontal U-shaped steel bar bending processing center in collaboration with the equipment manufacturer,” said Li Jingjie, the site manager for the Yukun High-Speed Railway project from China Railway Fourth Bureau. “This technology boasts significant advantages, including high bending accuracy, fast forming speed, and high automation levels, enabling a one-step transformation from raw materials to semi-finished products.” The introduction of this equipment has notably improved work efficiency and reduced production costs.

Currently, the time required to process the steel bars for a single box beam has been cut down from five hours to just one hour, and the workforce required has decreased from six to one, successfully enhancing both efficiency and profitability.

The Sonming beam yard is making strides towards creating a “smart beam yard” by incorporating various new intelligent technologies and machinery, such as smart chiseling and cutting robots, self-driving systems for internal molds of box beams, and intelligent spraying robots for the ends of beams. These advancements not only meet the required construction standards and processes but significantly enhance production capacity as well.

At present, the yard can pour about 800 tons of box beams daily, contributing robustly to the Yukun High-Speed Railway construction.

One of the major challenges in this project is the 3.7-kilometer Li Jia Village tunnel, which is a gas tunnel and poses high safety risks. To ensure construction safety, China Railway Twelfth Bureau has implemented an automated gas detection monitoring system for toxic and hazardous gases and has used explosion-proof electrical equipment, effectively mitigating the risks associated with gas operations.

Meanwhile, at the Luo Rongzhuang tunnel construction site, a smart site gas detection system is actively updating monitoring data in real-time, providing safety assurances for the workers involved in tunnel operations.

To tackle the challenges posed by the construction of the Changshui Airport tunnel that passes underneath the airport flight zone, the Dianzhong Railway Construction Command has organized experts from various fields to conduct technical research, resulting in key technological breakthroughs for the tunnel construction. The construction unit, China Railway Eighteenth Bureau, has employed a combination method using a cantilever tunneling machine along with a splitting machine and a rock hammer, filling a gap in domestic long-distance, large-section tunnel construction technology while ensuring safe construction progress and flight zone integrity.

The head of the Dianzhong Railway Construction Command at China Railway Kunming Group emphasized the importance of exploring modern information technology and smart equipment in the construction of the Yukun High-Speed Railway. The use of systems for monitoring risk, measuring surrounding rock in tunnels, electronic construction logs, documenting concealed engineering images, and smart security has provided scientific data support and a solid information guarantee for construction management.

Additionally, there is a continuous focus on enhancing research and application of new technologies, actively exploring the application of BIM technology for station house construction to optimize workflows, reduce interference, and develop research results that can be referenced in major engineering construction organization systems.