Recently, China's first integrated underwater leveling and concreting equipment, independently developed by CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company, was successfully put into use at the breakwater phase I project of Xiaomo International Logistics Port in Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone, Guangdong. This marks a transition of China's foundation bed leveling equipment from large-scale leveling vessels and jack-up platforms to lightweight, modular integrated underwater leveling equipment.
The breakwater phase I project of Xiaomo International Logistics Port in Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone is the longest single-shaft vertical breakwater under construction in China, with a total length of nearly 3.7 kilometers. It requires approximately 700,000 cubic meters of rock dumping, and the underwater foundation bed leveling area exceeds 100,000 square meters. The flatness of the foundation bed surface directly determines the installation accuracy and stability of the caissons, making it a critical process in breakwater construction.
Traditional manual leveling processes require crane assistance and underwater operations by divers, which are cumbersome, time-consuming, and pose high safety risks. The project is located in an open swell sea area with an average wave height of 1 meter, frequent extreme weather events such as typhoons, strong convection, and cold waves, severely limiting the construction window.
The underwater leveling equipment deployed for the Xiaomo Port project has a total length of 28.3 meters, a total width of 12.3 meters, and weighs approximately 48 tons. It is equipped with four hydraulic cylinder legs, a high-precision inclinometer, and an underwater measurement device based on real-time kinematic carrier phase differential technology. The equipment evenly spreads stone materials through a conveying screw, and then a scraper at the bottom of the traveling trolley levels the gravel cushion layer. A dedicated digital intelligent control platform presets construction benchmark parameters and automated operation paths. Once the leveling equipment enters the water, it can automatically travel and precisely level the working surface, doubling the work efficiency compared to traditional manual operations and increasing the allowable wave height for construction by 60%.
In recent years, CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company has continuously introduced advanced construction technologies into port and waterway engineering. It has deployed multi-degree-of-freedom motion compensation platforms on cement mixing pile core sampling vessels to extend the operation window and improve core sample integrity. Mobile vibratory compaction equipment has been applied to foundation bed compaction to enhance the overlapping accuracy of compaction points. The successful deployment of this underwater leveling equipment effectively overcomes the shortcomings of traditional processes in terms of efficiency and precision, significantly reducing the safety risks of underwater operations.
Once completed, the breakwater will provide favorable sheltering conditions for the existing phase I and the under-construction phase II of Xiaomo Port, significantly reducing the impact of adverse weather on port construction and operations, ensuring the utilization rate of berths and the safety of ship berthing and departure, and providing solid support for the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone to build a modern comprehensive logistics hub.