A number of leading highways and railroad bridges in western China
were completed and opened to traffic just in time for China's
National Day, which fell on October 1.
China's second desert road, or the Qieta Desert Highway as it is
named, which runs through the Taklimakan Desert, the country's
largest, opened to traffic on October 4. The road links Qiemo with
Korla counties in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The use of this highway cuts the two-day trip between Qiemo and
Korla to just eight hours.
Meanwhile, an expressway connecting the Bai Autonomous Prefecture
of Dali and Baoshan in southwest China's Yunnan province opened on
September 29. The construction of the east-west section in Yunnan
province required an investment of seven billion yuan (some 850
million US dollars). It is considered to be the most expensive and
the most difficult, from an engineering point of view, ever built
in Yunnan.
The principal part of the 1,390-meter-long railway bridge located
at the source of the Yangtze River in northwest China's Qinghai
province was completed on September 25, more than 300 days ahead of
schedule.
Moreover, work on the four key bridges along the Qinghai-Tibet
Railway is expected to be completed by mid-October.
Approximately 110 bridge abutments have been installed.
Construction of the bridges, which is taking place at an elevation
of 4,800 meters, is a hard nut to crack from an engineering point
of view, given the complex geographical features and the frozen
earth.
(Xinhua News
Agency October 9, 2002)