Immersed tunnel bespoke seals
Trelleborg’s marine and infrastructure operation has been awarded the contract to supply all of the closure joints, including a bespoke seal, to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) First Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd., for the Dalian Bay immersed tunnel in Dalian, Liaoning, China.
The immersed tunnel covers 5.1 kilometres and consists of 18 large tunnel elements, with some weighing as much as 60,000 tons. Upon completion in 2024, it will be the longest immersed tunnel in Northern China. For the 18 tunnel elements and 219 segment joints, Trelleborg was selected to provide a mixture of its industry leading Waterstop seals, Gina gaskets, Omega Seals and a new closure joint seal.
In addition to the 18 immersed elements, there will be 14,000 meters of Waterstop and 7,000 meters of Omega seals provided for the cut and cover section at the north and south shores of the tunnel, which will seal the construction joints and expansion joints. These sealing systems not only showcase Trelleborg’s unique design capabilities, but the seals for the cut and cover sections will also help to speed up the construction time of the project.
In traditional construction, bulkhead and concrete pouring would take two to three months longer underwater. However, Trelleborg’s solution enables all works to be prepared on the drydock, saving significant amounts of time.
Trelleborg’s sealing systems promise a product life expectancy of up to 120 years with little-to-no maintenance.
By Jake Frith
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