Construction of First South-to-North Highway in West Shaanxi Progresses

The sections of the Baoji-Pingkan highway in west Shaanxi province opened to traffic on Oct 28.

The highway sections are the first south-to-north passages of their kind in western parts of Shaanxi and will boost economic growth in the province.

Located in the Qinling Mountains, they stretch through valleys and over mountains, which made their construction difficult.

The great amount of precipitation, 1,137-millimeter on average annually, and extremely low temperatures of around minus 20 degrees Celsius added to the project challenges.

Construction of the two sections started in July 2017 and was contracted by No. 3 Engineering Co., Ltd of China Railway 14th Bureau Group Corporation, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited.

Special technologies like planting grass by seed spraying on rocky slopes and protective netting were also used during construction to protect the surrounding environment.

To improve the exposed rock surface condition of the side slopes, the company developed a flexible greening ecological slope protection technology which stabilized the slopes with galvanized nets and steel rock bolts and then use a high-pressure pumper to spray a mixture of muck, grass seeds and fertilizer onto their surfaces.

The Baoji-Pingkan highway is expected to promote construction of the Guanzhong Plain urban cluster that is centered on Xi'an in Shaanxi and includes other cities in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Gansu provinces.

An aerial view of the Yanwan-Pingkan section of the Baoji-Pingkan highway [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

A view of the Yanwan-Pingkan section of the Baoji-Pingkan highway [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)