Boring of Wongan-Kaiyang expressway tunnel breaks through

Construction workers on June 22 celebrate the boring break through at the Zaoyan tunnel. [Photo/ddcpc.cn]

An important tunnel for the Wongan-Kaiyang expressway – a massive project in Southwest China’s Guizhou province – completed its main boring and broke through the other side on June 22, according to road officials.

They said the successful penetration marked significant progress made in overcoming difficult engineering problems during construction of the expressway.

The Zaoyan tunnel, with a length of 2,039 meters, is located in Kaiyang county in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou province.

Officials said the plans called for the tunnel to reach the other side on December 29, 2020, so the completion of the boring was achieved 192 days in advance.

Although Zaoyan tunnel is not the longest one in the Wongan-Kaiyang expressway, officials said it was among the toughest tunnels to build due to area’s faults, difficult geological strata and abundant groundwater.

The 48-kilometer long Wongan-Kaiyang expressway, currently under construction, is an important part of Guizhou’s expressway network and is included in the Thirteenth Five-Year Development Plan of Transportation in Guizhou Province.

The entrance of Zaoyan tunnel, part of the Wongan-Kaiyang expressway [Photo/ddcpc.cn]

It has received a total investment of 7.2 billion yuan ($1.02 billion).

Officials said that when completed, it will improve the expressway network of Guizhou province, accelerate the development of the Qianzhong economic zone and support regional industrialization and the new urbanization process. 

They said it will also help Guizhou build a world-class phosphorus chemical industry center and be of great significance for the province to catch up and to create a better-off society overall.