Last Tunnel of China-Laos Railway’s Section in Laos Dug Through

The Fugecun tunnel, the fourth-longest tunnel of the China-Laos Railway, was dug through on Sept 22, bringing a close to tunnel digging engineering of the Mohan-Vientiane section and laying a solid foundation for the full operation of the entire line in 2021.

A high risk segment key to the China-Laos railway, the tunnel was contracted by China Railway No. 8 Engineering Group Co., Ltd, designed by China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co., Ltd, supervised by Northwest Research Institute Co., Ltd and inspected by China Railway Southwest Research Institute Co., Ltd, all subsidiaries of China Railway Group Limited (CREC).

Located in Oudomxay Province in Laos, the 8.94-kilometer tunnel was built through seven faults with complicated geological conditions.

With its deepest part buried about 740 meters underground, the tunnel was contributed to by more than 400 builders in 1,257 days.

The average daily water inflow amount was more than 60,000 cubic meters, equaling the volume of 25 standard swimming pools. The water pressure reached as high as 3.38 Mpa, adding difficulty to the construction.

To lessen the impact of the water, 20 groups of adverse-grade drainage cables, seven drainage pumping stations and 15 drain pipe lines were set up.

Meanwhile, eight 500 kW generators were prepared for emergency use.

CREC, as a main contractor of the China-Laos Railway, is responsible for 46 tunnels, measuring 115,853 meters or 58.9 percent of the entire length of all tunnels.

A ceremony is held on Sept 22 to announce digging through of the last tunnel of the Mohan-Vientiane section of the China-Laos Railway. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Hao Wen)