Railway Tunnel Half-Complete Near Lhasa

Construction has been half-complete in the Zao'erfeng Tunnel near Lhasa on the last mile of the Qinghai-Tibet railway line.

So far 218 meters of the 411-meter-long tunnel has been completed after engineers and workers had changed construction procedure to speed up the project. The engineers and workers have increased the drill depth per shift so as to speed up the ventilation and removal of blast dusts.

The tunnel is now expected to drill through within the next 100 days in accordance with the current progress.

The Zao'erfeng Tunnel is the key conjunction on the last mile, with the embankment for the railway line between the tunnel and the Lhasa railway station underway earlier last month.

The distance between the tunnel and the Lhasa railway station is 1.486 kilometers and the project needs 100,000 cubic meters of earth and gravel as the filling materials for the embankment.

Due to the local climate elements and topography, five quality control measures have been taken to guarantee that the embankment endure the tear and wear of local conditions.

Quality control starts right with the filling materials themselves and stretches to include the filling procedures and measures.

When complete, the Qinghai-Tibet railway line will be the first to reach Tibet on the roof of the world that averages more than 4,000 meters above sea level.

The new Qinghai-Tibet railway line, measuring 1,080 kilometers, started construction at both ends in June this year and expected to complete in six years time.

Nov 08
Xinhuanet