On April 28, 2023 local time in France, as the cutter head of “China Railway No. 778” TBM manufactured by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG) under CRHIC breaks through the wall, the OA603P-OA501P Section of the Paris Metro Line 16 Lot 2 Project is successfully completed.

The shield tunnel of the Paris Metro Line 16 Lot 2 Project has a total length of 11.1 kilometers (5.8+5.3 kilometers) and a burial depth of 8-52 meters. The main under-crossing strata include granular gypsum horizon, silty clay, gypsum plaster horizon, limestone horizon and sand horizon. Based on the geological conditions of the Project, CREG has customized two earth pressure balance tunnel boring machines, namely, “China Railway No. 777” and “China Railway No. 778”. The two machines, with a diameter of 9.86 meters and the highest monthly tunneling footage of 419m and 384m respectively, are highly praised by customers.