Chinese contractors will drill a 16km-long tunnel through a 2.4km-deep layer of glacial ice to build a major road in the far western autonomous region of Xinjiang.
The West Tianshan Super-long Tunnel between the towns of Wensu and Zhaosu will carry part of National Highway 219, a 10,000km route that runs along the southern and western border of the people’s republic, passing through some of the highest and most hostile terrain on Earth.
Wensu is located in the northwest of China, on the border with Kyrgyzstan. Zhaosu is further to the northeast, on the border with Kazakhstan.
The aim is to shorten the driving distance between the two towns from 1,710km to 500km, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The South China Morning Post describes the project as part of a plan to connect north and south Xinjiang in order to boost trade and tourism and provide an improved road link to Tibet, Central Asia, India and Russia.
The All About Industries website notes that the boring is being carried out by the “Wensu”, a 235m-long drill weighing 1,800 tonnes built by China Communications for this project.
The drill contains advanced sensors to cope with difficult geological conditions. These include complex folds of extremely hard rock, such as quartz and marble, mixed with deformed intrusions of soft sedimentary strata.
The machine is also fitted with a variety of early warning systems to detect hazards such as falling rocks, said to be a danger on more than 80% of the route.
The site adds that the project is doubling as a showcase for potential customers of its Chinese tunnel boring machines.
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