The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong is installed in place on Changxing Island on Monday and is ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong is installed in place on the Changxing Island on Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong isinstalled in place on the Changxing Islandon Monday and ready to excavate.

Ti Gong

A colossal shield machine for the long-awaited Chongming Metro Line in Shanghai will start digging across the Yangtze River soon to connect China's third largest island with the Pudong New Area.

The 308-ton specialized shield Shentong, named after the city's Metro operator, was installed in place on Changxing Island, a county under the jurisdiction of Chongming District, on Monday morning and is ready to excavate.

"It will take two years to dig from Changxing Island to Pudong beneath the Yangtze River to become the city's first cross-Yangtze subway tunnel," said Jiang Zhigang, a project manager with the construction company of Shentong Metro.

In the next step, another shield will dig northwards from Changxing to Chongming Island to create a complete subway tunnel for the future Chongming Line, Jiang revealed.

Shanghai's 20 Metro lines cover more than 830 kilometers across the city, making it one of the largest Metro networks in the world. Chongming will become the last local district to connect with the system.

The Chongming Line, which will stretch from Pudong to Chongming via Changxing Island, will cover a total length of 43 kilometers.

Upon its completion in about five years, it will take about half an hour to reach Jinji Road in Pudong from Chongming's Chenjia Town.

A trip from Chongming to People's Square by Metro will thus be shortened to less than an hour from the at least 90 minutes' drive currently, leave alone the severe congestion during almost every holiday.

The Chongming Line will entirely operate underground by crossing the Yangtze twice via the two cross-river tunnels.

The shield in position on Monday will take charge of the digging task for the 7.74-kilometer southern cross-river tunnel.

The 148-meter-long shield has six main blazes and another six supportive blazes which are designed for the soil condition at the mouth of the Yangtze.

The blazes are painted into red petals to resemble a huge flower, symbolizing the ideal ecological environment of Chongming and its future development after the China Flower Expo.

According to the blueprint, the line will start from Jinji Road in Pudong's Jinqiao area and run east through Shenjiang Road and Dongjing Road. It will cross the Yangtze to reach Changxing Island, and then once again to reach Chongming Island.

After the line opens, passengers can transfer to Line 9 at Jinji Road and Line 12 at Shenjiang Road.