The testing phase of the second tunnel boring machine was initiated on Saturday to prepare for the construction of the underground section of Hanoi’s metro line No. 3.

After the installation had been complete, the Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) of the machine commenced at the construction site of Kim Ma Station, part of the Nhon-Hanoi Station urban metro line.

The process examines the entire functionality of the machine after installation and its integration with the auxiliary system, according to Le Trung Hieu, deputy head of the city’s Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB), the project developer.

The SAT will review the overall operation, as well as inspect the parameters and measurement of the machine’s main components, Hieu added.

Carried out by Germany’s Herrenknecht AG – the manufacturer of the machine and project contractor – the testing phase is expected to last for one week.

The operation of the machine will then be reviewed by the MRB and the project consultants.

Following the SAT, the machine will begin boring a four-kilometer tunnel from Kim Ma Station to Hanoi Station.

The testing of the project’s first tunnel boring machine was previously finished on February 2.

Stretching a total of 12.5 kilometers, the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station metro line includes an 8.5-kilometer elevated section and four-kilometer underground section.

The capital investment increased to EUR1.1 billion (US$1.29 billion) in 2014 from EUR783 million ($920 million) in 2009, which is mainly funded by official development assistance (ODA) from France.

The metro route is anticipated to help reduce 20,000 metric tons of vehicle exhaust in Hanoi each year.

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