The construction project of the shallow draft intelligent laying ship of the Shanghai Aviation Administration of China started.

On August 18, the intelligent shallow-draft paving ship construction project of CCCC Shanghai Dredging Co., Ltd. officially commenced in Taizhou, Zhejiang. From transforming the "Hangfang Barge 602" in 1997 to pioneer ship-based paving operations, to now owning the largest and most advanced paving fleet in China, CCCC Shanghai Dredging has forged a path of progress from scratch, from good to excellent, continuously leading the industry's development.

Starting from scratch to fill industry gaps

Paving ships are specialized engineering vessels used for cofferdam land reclamation, soft mattress laying, and sandbag filling operations. In 1997, CCCC Shanghai Dredging achieved a historic breakthrough by transforming the "Hangfang Barge 602" into China's first paving ship, pioneering the sandbag filling process and transitioning from manual paving to ship-based paving operations. The primary focus was on shallow water construction and riverbed leveling. The success of this technological transformation led the company to quickly initiate the transformation project for "Hangfang Barge 603," forming the early paving fleet and filling a domestic gap.

In 1998, to support the unprecedented Yangtze River Estuary Deepwater Channel Regulation Project, "Traffic Construction No. 5" was transformed. As a representative of the second-generation paving ships, it was equipped for the first time with a crane and paving flip board, enabling the lifting of prefabricated concrete blocks. This gave rise to the new construction method of "interlocking block paving." During the initial construction of Shanghai Yangshan Deepwater Port, paving ships were assigned the new mission of "prefabricated sandbag dumping." To save costs and efficiently coordinate port land formation, "Traffic Construction No. 3" was specially modified based on the second generation, with upgraded flip board dimensions, giving birth to the "Asia's Largest Board." With keen foresight and innovation, CCCC Shanghai Dredging reached the pinnacle of the paving field.

Entering the 21st century, "Traffic Construction No. 2," as the pioneering third-generation paving ship, redefined the scope and technical standards of paving ships, completely changing the costly and time-consuming construction state of the embankment industry at the time. It became an indispensable key carrier in the land reclamation process. Subsequently, the fourth-generation paving ship was constructed, utilizing a truss system for the first time and upgrading to an information-based frequency conversion system, significantly enhancing single-ship construction efficiency. Leveraging the automation equipment advantages of two heavy-duty paving ships, the company undertook national key projects such as Tianjin Lingang, Caofeidian, and Xiamen Airport construction, maintaining its core competitiveness in paving as the best in Asia.

"Twin Stars of Traffic Construction" conquer deepwater challenges

The successive launch of "Traffic Construction No. 9" and "Traffic Construction No. 10" marked a qualitative leap for CCCC Shanghai Dredging's paving fleet.

The "Twin Stars of Traffic Construction" focused on a comprehensive upgrade in construction capabilities, with paving width leaping from the 40-meter level to the 60-meter level. The single construction area covered a broader range, effectively reducing the number of overlaps and errors in paving. As the industry's most multifunctional composite paving ships, the two vessels boast ultra-high mechanical equipment compatibility. In addition to upgrading traditional functions like soft mattress laying, concrete interlocking block paving, and sandbag filling, they integrate new functions such as caisson rock dumping and water drainage board installation, creating paving "transformers" with unique modification expandability, suitable for various operational environments. Furthermore, the ships innovatively added emergency push and side-push functions, significantly enhancing wind and wave resistance and ship safety.

In terms of intelligence, the ships achieved a leap from single-machine automation to full-process coordination for the first time. Through digital applications, they easily realized automatic sand filling, intelligent lifting, automatic paving, visualized operations, and one-click ship movement, effectively reducing the number of necessary labor personnel. Daily production capacity and annual construction capabilities tripled, driving paving operations from labor-intensive to intelligent technology innovation. More importantly, the "Twin Stars of Traffic Construction" completely solved the challenges of deepwater paving. They passed tests in national key projects like the Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge and Yangtze River Estuary Channel Regulation, where water depths reached nearly 30 meters, far exceeding the 15-meter limit of conventional embankment engineering. Traditional paving equipment could not reach such depths. CCCC Shanghai Dredging's paving fleet, with its strong environmental adaptability, extended paving operations from nearshore shallow waters to deepwater offshore areas.

In terms of green environmental protection, the ships adopted a full-electric system for the first time, fully upgraded to multi-drive frequency conversion across the vessel, reducing vibration and noise, and achieving comprehensive energy-saving and consumption reduction. The onboard generator sets strictly controlled emissions, making the entire construction process greener, more environmentally friendly, and lower in carbon emissions. They became the world's only paving ships to receive the green ship additional mark.

In 2025, CCCC Shanghai Dredging and the China Classification Society jointly compiled the "Intelligent Ship Specification" (2025), incorporating "intelligent paving" into the ship specification system for the first time. This defined core requirements for intelligent paving functions, operations and control, equipment health management, and operational efficiency management, filling the domestic gap in intelligent grading standards for paving ships. The outstanding performance of the "Twin Stars of Traffic Construction" provided critical practical support for the formulation of this standard, propelling CCCC Shanghai Dredging from a standard practitioner to a standard setter. In the same year, "Traffic Construction No. 10" was transformed into the "Ship of Innovation" and appeared on the CCTV screen as the stage for the "CMG Sci-Tech Innovation Gala," bringing paving ships from the engineering front line into the national audience's view.

Launching an offensive for full water area coverage

The "Twin Stars of Traffic Construction" overcame deepwater paving challenges, but when construction areas shifted to shallow water key projects like Hengsha Shoal and South Channel, draft depth became a new "threshold." The intelligent shallow-draft paving ship was designed to resolve the contradiction of "requiring shallow draft while maintaining high performance."

From conquering deepwater to focusing on shallow water, this "deep first, then shallow" strategic loop reflects CCCC Shanghai Dredging's persistent pursuit of the goal of "full water area coverage." The new ships significantly reduced draft depth in design while enhancing construction capabilities—filling efficiency further improved, lifting capacity significantly increased, achieving full coverage of shallow and deep water conditions. The team integrated cutting-edge technologies such as precise visualized operation systems and the "Digital Sentinel" intelligent prevention and control system on the ships, and conducted exploratory research around AI intelligent filling, aiming to achieve automatic path planning and intelligent control of robotic arms. Relying on comprehensive energy-saving measures such as frequency conversion drives and permanent magnet motors, the new ships doubled efficiency while reducing energy consumption. From single paving to multifunctional collaboration, from shallow water beginnings to conquering deepwater and then focusing on shallow water, the iterative history of CCCC Shanghai Dredging's paving ships is a story of continuously expanding operational boundaries and leading industry innovation.

From protecting beaches and embankments to building cofferdams and dikes, from navigating rivers to entering the sea and reaching international waters, generation after generation of meritorious ships have carried forward craftsmanship, and one epic project after another has left magnificent footprints. CCCC Shanghai Dredging has always maintained the largest and most advanced paving fleet in China. Behind the iterations of several ship types lies the dedication of navigators to "sharpen their tools to do their work well," as well as a nation's firm steps in "keeping key technologies firmly in its own hands" in the field of core water engineering equipment. From the banks of the Huangpu River to the shores of the East China Sea, the trajectory of CCCC Shanghai Dredging always extends toward deeper, farther, and smarter horizons.