The Baozuo Tunnel, the longest tunnel on the Sichuan section of the Xining-Chengdu Railway, was successfully broken through on July 25. The railway is constructed by China Railway No.2 Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited.
The Baozuo Tunnel, located in Songpan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, stretches 11.795 kilometers. It sits at an average altitude of 3,500 meters, with its highest point reaching 3,693 meters.
The Baozuo Tunnel is the longest tunnel on the Sichuan section of the Xining-Chengdu Railway. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The tunnel traverses an area with highly complex geological conditions, posing significant construction risks including tunnel collapse, mud and water inundation, and the emission of toxic and harmful gases. In addition, it is situated in an ecologically fragile area with an extremely adverse natural environment, posing tremendous challenges to the construction work.
To guarantee construction quality and safety, the project team continuously optimized construction techniques and equipment. It adopted mechanized and standardized procedures to achieve normative construction across the entire tunnel. Advanced technologies such as ground penetrating radar and advanced geological prediction were applied to accurately identify geological conditions ahead of the working face. In addition, a 24/7 automatic gas monitoring system was set up to provide comprehensive safety protection throughout construction.
As a vital component of the Lanzhou-Guangzhou corridor in China’s national high-speed railway network featuring eight vertical lines and eight horizontal lines, the Xining-Chengdu Railway will serve as a new transportation artery connecting China’s northwest and southwest regions.
(Executive editor: Zuo Shihan)
