Key Tunnel of G7611 Xichang-Zhaotong Expressway in China Completed

On May 3, the Gongjue Alpine Tunnel, a key control project of the G7611 Xichang-Zhaotong Expressway (referred to as Xizhao Expressway), was successfully completed. Invested and constructed by China Railway Urban Construction Investment Group under China Railway Group, the expressway is co-constructed by China Railway First Bureau and China Railway Science Research Institute, marking a major breakthrough in the construction of the Xizhao Expressway and laying a solid foundation for its early opening to traffic.

China Daily reports that the Xizhao Expressway is an important part of the Guiyang Duyun-Yunnan Shangri-La Expressway in the national highway network planning. It starts from Xichang City in Sichuan Province in the west and ends at Zhaotong City in Yunnan Province in the east, with a total length of 184.8 kilometers and a designed speed of 80 kilometers per hour. As a vital transportation artery in southwest China, it plays a key role in improving regional connectivity.

Located in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, the Gongjue Alpine Tunnel connects Zhaojue County and Xichang City, with an altitude ranging from 2,600 meters to 3,520 meters. It is the highest-altitude tunnel and a core key and difficult project of the entire line, designed as a separated dual-line extra-long tunnel.

People’s Daily Online notes that the left tunnel is 12,090 meters long, the right tunnel is 12,037 meters long, and the maximum burial depth reaches 787 meters. The tunnel is situated in an area with high altitude and oxygen deficiency, steep mountains and deep valleys, and inconvenient transportation, with complex geological conditions involving multiple fault zones.

During construction, high risks such as soft rock large deformation and mud and water inrush were encountered, with the maximum daily water inrush reaching 30,000 cubic meters and the cumulative water inrush exceeding 51 million cubic meters, making construction extremely difficult and safety risks high. To overcome these challenges, the construction team carried out intensive scientific research and applied intelligent construction equipment, which greatly improved construction efficiency and safety.

China News Network states that the completion of the Gongjue Alpine Tunnel has solved the biggest bottleneck in the construction of the Xizhao Expressway. The construction team has successively overcome technical difficulties such as high ground stress, soft rock large deformation and water inrush, and four technological achievements have obtained national utility model patents, providing strong support for the project’s quality and safety.

Once opened to traffic, the Xizhao Expressway will shorten the driving time between Xichang and Zhaotong from 5 hours to 2.5 hours, greatly improving the travel conditions in the five eastern counties of Liangshan Prefecture. It will also improve the layout of the highway network in southwest China, connect the three major economic zones of Chengdu, southern Sichuan and Panxi, link up the Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi highway corridor, and open up a key southward channel in Sichuan Province.

Currently, the construction of the remaining sections of the Xizhao Expressway is progressing steadily, with all efforts focused on accelerating the project schedule to ensure early completion and opening. Moving forward, the expressway will play a profound role in boosting rural revitalization and regional coordinated development, promoting interconnection in southwest China and advancing high-quality development in the region.