The Qiantang River Tunnel in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, opened to traffic on July 30. It has the largest diameter of the municipal engineering projects in Hangzhou.
Once operational, the tunnel is expected to shorten travel time between the two sides of the river to four minutes, which will improve cross-river traffic capacity, ensure success of the Hangzhou Asian Games next year and promote cross-river integrated development.
The Qiantang River Tunnel in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, opens to traffic on July 30. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
With a designed speed of 80 kilometers per hour, the 4,616-meter tunnel has a total of six lanes.
Construction of the tunnel started in May 2019 under the responsibility of China Railway 14th Bureau Group Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited.
The tunnel was built with noise-reducing asphalt, which can reduce noise by 5 to 10 dB compared with the levels of traditional asphalt. The roof of the tunnel is painted with blue sky and white cloud, which can help relieve visual fatigue of the drivers using the tunnel.
A bird's-eye view of the Qiantang River Tunnel in Hangzhou [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The Qiantang River Tunnel is a key section of the 53-kilometer Qiantang Expressway, a crucial part of the four north-to-south and five east-to-west highways in Hangzhou. The Qiantang Expressway stretches through Yuhang, West Lake, Gongshu, Shangcheng and Qiantang districts and is the longest highway from east to west in the city.
Operation of the tunnel is of great significance to the connection and coordinated development of the two sides of Qiantang District.
(Executive editor: Li Zhiyong)
