The "Centenary Moment of the Communist Party of China" was completed and opened to traffic on the Metuo Highway in Tibet

Beijing, October 30 (CNBC) -- The Voice of China of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, together with the National Radio, jointly launched a special report entitled "A Moment in the Centenary of the Communist Party of China." This issue is launched: The Tibet Metuo Highway was completed and opened to traffic.

On October 31, 2013, the 117-kilometer-long Tibet Metuo Highway, which spans 6 fault zones, was completed and opened to traffic, allowing Metuo County to end the history of China's last county without highways, and China to fully achieve the goal of "county-to-county highways".

"The top of the mountain is among the clouds, the bottom of the mountain is by the river, you can hear and hear, and you have to walk for a few days", which is a true portrayal of the traffic in the past. "Metuo" means "hidden lotus" in Tibetan, and before the opening of the Metuo Highway, this lotus flower had been hidden behind the snow-capped mountains and isolated from the world, known as "plateau island". Climbing ladders, ziplines, crossing canoe bridges, people want to get in and out of the ink, can only use such a primitive way.

Galonra Tunnel Construction Environment

From the 1960s to the 1990s, in order to open up the road to Metuo, the party and the state poured a lot of effort into investing in the construction of the Metuo Highway four times, but finally due to the complex terrain and geology, climatic conditions, and the manpower and material constraints at that time, it was not completely successful. Zhou Haitao, former chief engineer of the Ministry of Transport, said that the Metuo Highway has pinned the blood, sweat and dreams of countless people.

Zhou Haitao: The terrain of the Metuo Highway is complex and the climatic environment is difficult, especially the Galonla Tunnel crosses multiple fault zones, the rock mass is broken, the water inrush is large, and the construction is extremely difficult. More than 200 builders have sacrificed their lives in the four constructions, and they are still buried here.

In April 2009, the new reconstruction project of the Metuo Highway with an investment of 950 million yuan began in the whole line from Zamu Town in Bomi County in the north to the county seat of Metuo County in the south. Among them, the task of opening the 3310-meter-long Galonla Tunnel has become the most difficult bone to gnaw on to build this plateau highway.

At 10:00 a.m. on December 15, 2010, with the sound of the last cannon, the Galonla Tunnel was successfully penetrated, and the builders who were digging in opposite directions on the north and south sides met triumphantly, cheered and jumped, and hugged and wept.

Mao Ruibing, chief engineer of the three detachments of the former Armed Police Traffic Corps: This tunnel is the longest road tunnel in the modern glacier area in the world. It is a door, and the opening of the tunnel is equivalent to opening a door of the ink, which can be relatively free to come and go in and out. Without this tunnel, the road would not have been accessible for eight months of the year to climb over this mountain.

On October 31, 2013, the opening ceremony of the Metuo Highway was held, and the dream of "walking out of the mountain quickly and safely" that generations of Metuo people had been looking forward to was finally realized. On May 16, 2021, after the Zamo Highway, the second traffic artery to Metuo County, the Paimo Highway from Pai Town, Milin County, Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region, to Metuo County, was fully completed.

Producer: Gao Yan

Planner: Wu Junshan, Li Qian

Chief Writer: Wang Zehua Pubu Tsering

Speaker: Changyue

Coordinator: Zhu Xingxiao, Wang Zehua

Production: Zhou Tianzhong