The Xinjiang Wuwei Highway PPP project is a strategic project that carries an important mission of the country. It crosses the Tianshan Mountains and across the desert. As an important transportation trunk linking the north and south of Xinjiang, it has five sub-projects, large in scale, wide in distribution, and high in difficulty. After completion, it will benefit the economic, trade and cultural ties between countries in Europe and Asia, and provide an opportunity for Xinjiang to open up to the west.

The Wuwei Highway PPP project is located in the "Core Area of the Silk Road Economic Belt", an important transportation artery connecting Xinjiang across Tianshan Mountains to the north and south. It consists of five sub-projects: Urumqi to Yuli, Yuli to 35th Regiment, and 35th Regiment to Ruoqiang Highway , Itunbulak to Ruoqiang highway, Yuli to Qiemo highway, the total length of the line is 1305 kilometers, the investment is about 76 billion yuan, and the construction period ranges from 4 to 6 years. It is currently the largest PPP project under construction in China.

Tianshan Shengli Tunnel under construction

Difficult construction technology and harsh construction environment

The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, which is the controlling project of the project, is located in a high-cold and high-altitude area. There are faults such as fracture zone, rock burst, large deformation, freezing damage, fissure water and salivary water. The project has more than 500 kilometers across the desert, and conventional construction methods cannot To meet the needs of aeolian sand roadbed, construction organization and technical difficulties are high; the five sub-projects of the project all have saline soil, and the roadbed quality control is difficult; the project passes through earthquake-prone areas such as the Tianshan earthquake zone, and the project passes through the Gobi desert at many places along the project. No man's land such as deserts and deserts.

High ecological and environmental protection requirements

The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel is close to Tianshan No. 1 Glacier and Urumqi Water Source Reserve, with high environmental protection requirements; along the project, it has passed through Lop Nur, Wild Camel Reserve, Populus euphratica forest, public welfare forest and other tourism and nature reserves for many times, and the requirements for animal and plant protection are high.

In order to overcome the construction difficulties caused by extreme natural conditions, the project has strengthened safety management and actively innovated.

The construction of the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel adopts the "three-hole + four-shaft" construction scheme, among which the service tunnel adopts the TBM construction method, which is the first application of the domestic highway tunnel.

Aerial view of the exit of Tianshan Shengli Tunnel

TBM roadheader construction drawing

The double main tunnels of the tunnel are constructed by drilling and blasting. Through the advanced advantages of the service tunnel TBM, the auxiliary working face of the main tunnel is opened at each crosswalk to realize the ultra-short drilling of long tunnels. This technology is the first application in domestic tunnels.

On the morning of August 17, with a loud blasting noise, the last rock wall of the tunnel face was immediately transparent, firecrackers blew, and the crowd cheered. The control project of the Qiang Highway-Bashkorgan No. 2 Tunnel was successfully completed. At this point, the various construction points of the Itunbulak to Ruoqiang highway have been fully connected, which has created conditions for further speeding up the smooth completion of the project and opening to traffic.

The main route of the Itunbulak-Ruoqiang Highway is located in Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, passing through the two “no man’s areas” of Lop Nur and Altun Mountain. It is an important transportation channel from Xinjiang to Qinghai and the inland, with a total length of 295.44 kilometers. Among them, the Bashkorgan No. 2 tunnel is 4736 meters in length. It is a high-cold and high-altitude super-long highway tunnel. It is difficult to transport, and the surrounding rock geological conditions are complex, joints and fissures are developed, the project is extremely difficult, the construction risk is great, and the environmental protection pressure is very high. Prominence is the hardest "hard bone" on the Itunbulak to Ruoqiang highway.

Facing the difficulty of entering the site, poor transportation conditions, difficult construction organization, high cold and high altitude, etc., the project headquarters built the headquarters on the front line of construction and planted the party flag on the ridge of 3,500 meters above sea level to lead the party members and cadres. Employees continue to fight in a difficult environment. All project employees strictly implement standardized and standardized management, optimize construction design plans and construction procedures based on theoretical calculation results and on-site measured data, fight against the sky and the ground, and overcome one difficulty after another. Ensure the successful completion of the tunnel with "zero accidents" and "zero casualties".

During the tunnel construction and excavation, the project team found 1 broken zone and 3 crack development areas. The employees immediately organized a full geological analysis of the entire tunnel section to form an advanced geological forecast, which provided a lot of data for the subsequent improvement of the construction plan Support, and timely summarize the tunnel construction technology applicable to the fracture zone during the construction process, not only provide technical reference and reference for other tunnel projects at home and abroad, but also for the subsequent construction of the tunnel in the harsh environment of "no man's land" by China Communications Construction Provide a lot of theoretical basis and practical experience.

After the opening of the Itunbulak to Ruoqiang highway project, it provides an opportunity for Xinjiang to open to the west, which will further accelerate the economic and cultural development of Xinjiang, promote the integration of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang with the inland, and radiate the development of various regions and ports along the route. . At the same time, its completion is of great significance for further improving Xinjiang's transportation network, advancing the construction of the One Belt One Road, and promoting the construction of the core area of Xinjiang's "Silk Road Economic Belt". Editor/Sang Xiaomei