High tension wires buried to enhance green space
A shield machine begins digging for high-tension electricity wires in Sanlin Town of Pudong on Sunday.
After burying most overhead cable eyesores in the downtown, Shanghai has begun removing high tension electricity towers in the environs to spare additional space for parks and urban development projects.
The first such project was launched on Sunday in Sanlin Town of the Pudong New Area.
A 1.8-kilometer-long tunnel will be built to accommodate the overhead high-voltage wires supported by more than a dozen of iron towers between Huaxia Road W. and the Outer Ring Road at present, according to the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC).
The wires will be moved underground upon the completion of the tunnel to give way to the construction of one of the city's eight key "green wedges," or wedge-shaped greenbelts to link up the downtown and outlying regions.
"The practice will be promoted elsewhere in Shanghai to drive the urban renewal campaign and create an environmental friendly power system," said an official with STEC Shanghai Urban Construction Municipal Engineering Group in charge of the project.
Towers supporting high-tension wires in the area will become a thing of the past.
A shield machine has begun digging for a 20-meter-deep channel beneath the under-operation Metro Line 8. A number of innovative measures have been designed to ensure the safety of the project.
For instance, the shield will inject liquid into the surrounding soils while digging to prevent land subsidence, the official said.
According to the blueprint, the Sanlin Green Wedge will cover 4.2 square kilometers on the east bank of the Huangpu River. It will connect the Qiantan, Expo site and Lujiazui areas along the river in Pudong.
A shield machine is lifted underground for the digging of the tunnel.
The green wedge project will include quality communities for villagers and a central park equivalent to the size of two Century Parks in Pudong.
A large swathe of sports facilities, including basketball and tennis courts, as well as cycling and jogging paths stretching for 17 kilometers have also been planned in the greenbelt.
An artist's rendition of the Sanlin Green Wedge in Pudong.
