The tunnel boring machine "Yevdokiya" is a mining complex that has been operating since late May 2026 on the construction of the left running tunnel of the Nizhny Novgorod metro from Gorkovskaya station (Gorky Street) toward the future Freedom Square station. The total length of the route is approximately 730 metres. "Yevdokiya"'s full route measures 729 metres, over which the complex is to install 485 rings of high-precision reinforced-concrete lining.[1][2]

Origin and delivery

The machine was manufactured by the Chinese company CRCHI, part of the construction corporation CRCC, in the city of Changsha. The complex sat idle for more than two years awaiting the resumption of work at the construction site on Gorky Street. By early summer 2025, the equipment had been purchased.[2] It was delivered on 13 heavy-haul transporters that covered approximately 10,000 kilometres through China, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The main non-disassemblable components — the rotor and the machine body, with a diameter of more than 6 metres — were transported with a special escort, exclusively at night and along pre-approved routes.[2]

The machine received the name "Yevdokiya" in honour of Yevdokiya Dmitriyevna — the wife of Dmitry Donskoy and an Orthodox saint.[2] The inaugural launch took place in late May 2026.[3]

Progress of excavation

By 5 August 2026, the machine had passed the 200-metre mark — nearly a third of the entire planned route. By 11 September 2026, the machine had installed 270 of the 485 planned rings — more than half of all the reinforced-concrete lining of the left running tunnel; at that point the complex was near Kulibina Park at a depth of 18 metres.[4] During this period, the tunnellers had installed more than 140 rings of high-precision reinforced-concrete lining.[5] Work is proceeding in accordance with the production schedule.[3]

One key stage was the passage through the section near the historic 1833 quarter: the shield carefully bypassed buildings No. 123 and No. 127 on Gorky Street, which had been reinforced before tunneling began. The construction zone included cultural heritage sites — the Townsman Stolyarov House and the Museum of the Nizhny Novgorod Intelligentsia ("A house with a recreated memorial setting of the life of the Nizhny Novgorod intelligentsia of the late 19th – early 20th centuries," Gorky Street, 127).[5][2]

The second shield and completion timeline

Running in parallel with "Yevdokiya," the right tunnel is being bored by the second shield — "Alyona", launched in late July 2026 from the same starting shaft on Gorky Street. The name "Alyona" was given in honor of the heroine of the legend of Koromyslova Tower; the name "Alyona" was assigned to the second shield in honor of a girl named Alyona who, according to legend, in the 16th century encountered enemies on her way to fetch water and fought them off with nothing but a yoke in her hands.[6] "Alyona's" route skirts the historic quarter from the opposite side.[2] Both tunnels are planned to be completed by the end of 2026. Construction of the Svoboda Square and Sennaya stations is being carried out by the company "Mosproekt-3-3"; their opening is scheduled for the second half of 2027. The cost of the works has grown since the project's start from 35.5 billion to nearly 48 billion rubles.[2]

Chronicle of events

Details of each event are in the article about it; here are the dates and gist.

Sources

  1. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The first tunnel boring shield has already covered 200 meters from the excavation pit — The total route length for "Yevdokiya" is 729 meters; during this time the complex will need to install… (archive)
  2. GIPERNN — "Yevdokiya" has laid 200 meters of metro tunnel toward Freedom Square (archive)
  3. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — "Yevdokiya" completes the first 200 meters of the Nizhny Novgorod metro tunnel (archive)
  4. GTRK "Nizhny Novgorod" (Vesti) — By September 11, 2026, the shield "Yevdokiya" had installed 270 rings out of 485 planned — more than half of the entire reinforced-concrete lining of the left running tunnel. During this tim (archive)
  5. Vremya N — Tunnel boring shield "Yevdokiya" covers 200 meters toward Freedom Square (archive)
  6. KP — Nizhny Novgorod — Metro shield "Yevdokiya" rounds the historic block on Gorky Street — The name "Alyona" was given to the second shield in honor of a girl named Alyona who, according to legend, in the 16th century on her way to fetch water… (archive)
  7. Vremya N — By September 11, 2026, "Yevdokiya" had covered more than half of the planned route: 270 out of 485 reinforced-concrete lining rings had been installed, and in the course of boring, extracted (archive)
  8. GIPERNN — Upon reaching the "halfway" mark, the shield was level with Kulibina Park — at a depth of 18 meters. By that point, metro construction workers had installed 270 out of 485 rings of reinforced-concr (archive)
  9. Otkrytyy Nizhny — Almost a third of the way done: shield "Yevdokiya" has traveled 200 meters toward Freedom Square (archive)