The world's longest underwater shield tunnel for highways is coming. It will only take 10 minutes to travel from Hai'men in Jiangsu to Taicang.

This morning, China's self-developed super large diameter shield tunneling machine - Cangyuan, officially started excavation in Haimen, Nantong, Jiangsu. This also marks the beginning of full-scale penetration of the Hai-Tai Yangtze River tunnel, the world's longest road tunnel under the sea connecting Haimen in Jiangsu and Taicang in Jiangsu, with two tunnels in both directions. Over the next 30 months, the shield tunneling machine will advance to the opposite shore at an average speed of 3-4 centimeters per minute. As the tunneling progresses, the assembly of pipe segments on the tunnel wall will be completed, and it is expected to be fully connected in 2028. As a vital passage across the Yangtze estuary, the Hai-Tai Yangtze River tunnel is built to a six-lane highway standard in both directions, with a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour. After the tunnel is opened, the travel time from Haimen in Jiangsu to Taicang will be shortened from about one hour to about 10 minutes, realizing efficient connectivity in the one-hour economic circle between Nantong and southern Jiangsu and Shanghai, and accelerating the integration of the Yangtze River Economic Belt with the development of the Yangtze River Delta region.