(ECNS) -- With a total length of 5,506 meters, Gaojiaping tunnel of Zhengzhou-Wanzhou high-speed railway (Zhengwan high-speed railway) completed drilling on Monday after 4 years.
The tunnel in Nanzhang County, Xiangyang City of Hubei Province, passes through a karst landscape featuring the most complicated geological conditions in China.
There are karst depressions, sink holes and corrosion grooves on the surface of the tunnel. The rock mass here is broken and there are many karst caves and corrosion fissures in the limestone area, which are prone to geological disasters like water intrusion and mudslides.
There is also gas in the tunnel, making the construction extremely difficult. It has become a demonstration project of high-speed railway tunnels in China.
With a total length of 818 kilometers, Zhengwan high-speed railway connects Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province and Wanzhou District of Chongqing.
As an essential part of the Beijing-Kunming channel of Chinese high-speed railway networks, it will promote the development of tourism resources in the Three Gorges area and Yangtze River Economic Belt construction.
It is expected to open to the traffic in 2022, which will shorten the journey from Xiangyang to Chongqing and Zhengzhou to less than two hours.
