Visit the world's longest highway tunnel under construction: thousands of hammers "through" the Tianshan Mountains

Source: China News Network

Urumqi, China News Service, November 6 Title: Visiting the world's longest highway tunnel under construction: Thousands of hammers and chisels "through" the Tianshan Mountains

Written by Gou Jipeng

From Urumqi city to the south of more than 70 kilometers, towards the hinterland of the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, all the way tortuous, winding up the mountain, the weather on the road is cloudy and uncertain, sometimes rain and snow fall, sometimes clear skies. Mountain streams and ravines run through, large engineering vehicles come and go endlessly, and operations are busy.

Recently, a reporter from China News Service visited the construction site of the world's longest highway tunnel under construction, the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel in Xinjiang. In the depths of the Tianshan Mountains at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, looking up at the height of the mountain, the snow-capped peaks of the mountains, the roar of the machinery at the foot of the mountain, are thousands of hammers "piercing" the Tianshan Mountains, vowing to change the way of the heavenly graben.

The Tianshan Mountains, which stretch across central Xinjiang, block north-south traffic. If the pears, tomatoes and other agricultural and sideline products of Korla south of the Tianshan Mountains want to be transported to Urumqi, traveling from the existing highway in Xinjiang needs to take a detour to the east and draw a "semicircle" on the map, with a road length of about 500 kilometers. Or choose to take the 216 National Highway, walk through the Tianshan Mountains, and climb over the hills, which takes longer.

In order to truly connect the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains with the expressway, in 2019, the Wuwei Expressway was officially built, with a total length of more than 320 kilometers, connecting Urumqi to Yuli, Korla and other places. Xiong Ziyi, executive manager of the wytj-05 bid section of the Wuwei Highway of China Communications Construction, said: "After the project is completed and opened to traffic, the road mileage from Urumqi to Korla can be shortened by about 170 kilometers, and the driving time between the two places will be shortened from more than 7 hours to about 3 hours." ”

The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel visited by the reporter on the same day is the "throat" project of the Wuwei Expressway. The tunnel is designed to be about 22 kilometers long, which is a long alpine and high-altitude road tunnel, and will become the world's longest highway tunnel when completed. Xiong Ziyi said: "At present, the excavation and support of the left hole at the entrance of the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel is more than 1300 meters, the right hole is more than 1200 meters, and the middle service tunnel is more than 2700 meters. The reporter also learned that at the exit of the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel in Xinjiang and Jing County, the excavation of the left and right double main holes has also exceeded the 2,000-meter mark.

It is not easy to "penetrate" the Tianshan Mountains. Tianshan Shengli Tunnel is located in the alpine and high altitude area, the climatic environment is extremely harsh, the geological conditions are complex, there are a variety of bad geology, the construction is difficult, and the construction organization is complicated. To this end, China Communications Construction Innovation has opened up a way of "long tunnel and short attack".

Gong Yongqing, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee and deputy general manager of the China Communications Construction Xinjiang Wuwei Highway Package PPP Project, said: "Traditional tunnel excavation generally only hits 2 holes and excavates from both ends. The Tianshan Victory Tunnel, on the basis of the left and right holes, opened a middle guide hole in the middle to expand the auxiliary surface work of the main hole. Through the service tunnel with the adjacent horizontal hole spacing of about 800 meters as the construction section, the entire tunnel is 'cut', so as to achieve 'long tunnel and short hit', which can greatly shorten the construction period. ”

In addition, the new TBM TBM TBM independently developed by China Communications Construction has also become a sharp tool for mountain chiseling. The reporter saw at the construction site of the tunnel that the above-mentioned TBM "drilled" into the depths of the Tianshan Mountains like a steel dragon, and supported a world in the tunnel, and the workers were manipulating the machine and operating mechanized throughout the process.

When I walked out of the tunnel at the end of the interview, the sun had long since disappeared into the mountains, the temperature had plummeted, the wind and snow were getting tighter, and the inside of the cave was brightly lit and the work was in full swing. On the way out, looking back from a distance, under the majestic Tianshan Mountain, the shape of the three tunnel openings poured with cement has begun to appear, and it is conceivable that the traffic here will be busy in the future. (End)