en.Wedoany.com Reported - The first batch of steel structure components for the Guelmim-Marrakech High-Speed Rail Project (Lot 9) in Morocco has recently been shipped from China. These components were designed, manufactured, and installed by China Construction Steel Structure. The initial shipment of approximately 2,200 tons departed from the company's manufacturing plant in Jiangsu.
The Guelmim-Marrakech High-Speed Rail is Africa's first high-speed railway with a design speed exceeding 350 km/h. It is a key national project for upgrading the country's infrastructure and will serve the 2030 FIFA World Cup. As a transportation link connecting the political capital with the economic hub of Casablanca, Lot 9 serves not only as a "spectator bridge" during international events but also supports the construction of Morocco's modern high-speed transportation system.
The total steel usage for the project is approximately 12,600 tons, consisting of four steel bridges, with the longest single bridge spanning 1,100 meters. The components are manufactured to the highest European standard, EXC4, with a maximum plate thickness of 115 mm. The materials must meet the highest standards for low-temperature impact toughness at minus 50 degrees Celsius. The Jiangsu manufacturing plant employed visual welding robots for automatic welding processes. This technology uses intelligent vision to track weld seams in real time and dynamically adjusts welding posture and parameters during the process, eliminating manual operation deviations and reducing deformation in thick plate welding. Additionally, the plant's intelligent equipment covers all processes, including cutting, assembly, and welding, to control processing accuracy and ensure the quality of thick plate welding.
Furthermore, the manufacturing team utilized BIM forward design and digital pre-assembly intelligent construction technology. Through 3D digital models, the entire design process was modeled, and collision experiments and virtual pre-assembly were conducted online to simulate component connections and predict dimensional issues during installation, achieving millimeter-level manufacturing accuracy.
Before the shipment of the first batch of components, a joint acceptance team, consisting of the Moroccan National Railway Authority (ONCF), the French supervision company MOEI, the owner's laboratory LPEE, the external quality control agency BIGC, and the general contractor, visited the Jiangsu manufacturing plant to inspect and accept the processing and manufacturing of these components.
MOEI Supervision Director Ouichou Abdelaziz stated that China Construction Steel Structure not only manufactured high-quality components but also established a management system capable of consistently ensuring quality. This capability, he noted, is even more valuable than producing a single high-quality product.
