Key Tunnel of Xixiang-Zhenba Transportation Poverty-Alleviation Project Completed

The Xixiang tunnel, a key section of the Xixiang-Zhenba highway, was completed on July 29, bringing a close to the construction of the highway that links old revolutionary base areas with other regions.

A transportation poverty-alleviation project in Shaanxi province, the 49.5-kilometer four-lane Xixiang-Zhenba highway is a typical mountainous road with 91.8 percent of its sections featuring bridges and tunnels.

The Xixiang tunnel was dug through a titanic karst cave group with a volume of 89,000 cubic meters. With a maximum daily water inflow of 19,000 cubic meters, the tunnel was a high-risk component of Northwest China's highway tunnel project.

To guarantee safe digging, China Railway 18th Bureau Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited, contractor of the tunnel, united powers of the construction team as well as the enterprises responsible for design and supervision and developed a method to cut off water, avoiding risks and ensuring progress.

Completion of the tunnel sets a solid foundation for the Xixiang-Zhenba highway's inaugural year of service.

So far, 94.9 percent of the highway's construction is completed with all its 21 bridges and 10 tunnels now being paved.

Connecting with Shiyan-Tianshui highway between Hubei and Gansu provinces to the north and the Baotou-Maoming highway from Inner Mongolia autonomous region to Guangdong province, the Xixiang-Zhenba highway will be a part of the highway network linking Sichuan province and Chongqing with southern and southeastern regions of China.

It's worth mentioning that the highway will be the first of its kind in Zhenba county.

Upon operation, people will be able to reach all counties in Shaanxi by the highway, which will promote poverty-alleviation achievement in the Qinling-Daba mountain range as well as economic and social development in South Shaanxi.

Builders of the Xixiang tunnel, a key section of the Xixiang-Zhenba highway, pose in the tunnel to celebrate its completion on July 29. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

A view of the exit of the Xixiang tunnel [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)