On March 13, 2021, the Leshan-Xichang Expressway, which was built by the China Railway Eighteenth Bureau Group, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Group, started in full swing.

Leshan-Xichang Expressway

The Leshan-Xichang Expressway has a total length of about 320 kilometers and is designed as a two-way four-lane road. The line runs through the main settlements of the Yi people. The total investment exceeds 63.6 billion yuan. The Lexi Expressway crosses the Hengduan Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, climbing from the mountains in southwestern Sichuan at an altitude of more than 600 meters to the plateau meadow at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. The height difference of the line is 1,450 meters, and the proportion of bridges and tunnels is as high as 82%.

The route passes through the natural ecological protection area, the microclimate changeable area, there is no road, no electricity, no communication, the geological conditions are quite complicated, and the construction technology difficulty is extremely rare in the domestic mountainous expressway.

Daliangshan No. 1 Tunnel

A full-line throat control project with the participation of the China Railway Eighteenth Bureau Group-the 15.3 kilometers-long Daliangshan No. 1 tunnel is the longest expressway tunnel in southwest China. The tunnel passes through Mamize Nature, which is nearly 4,000 meters above sea level. In the protected area, the ecological environment is fragile, and the project is facing severe challenges. According to the design requirements, the builders of the China Railway 18th Bureau will use TBM roadheaders in the construction of Lexi Expressway, which can not only effectively reduce safety risks and protect the surrounding environment, but also shorten the 6 to 7 years required for conventional construction to Two and a half years, this is also the first application of TBM in domestic highway construction.

It is understood that Lexi Expressway is known as the "Millennium Waiting for One Road". It is China's first wealth-making channel and eco-tourism channel deep into the Daliangshan hinterland. It is also the expectation of several generations of the 2 million Yi nationality compatriots in the Daliangshan Mountains in Sichuan. After the Lexi Expressway is completed and opened to traffic in 2025, it will be connected to many major national roads such as Chengyu, Jingkun, and Rongli. It will not only completely end the history of the three counties of Zhaojue, Meigu and Leibo in Liangshan prefecture with no expressway access, but also The travel time from Zhaojue, Meigu, and Leibo to Chengdu will be shortened from more than 10 hours now to 4 hours. At the same time, it will further strengthen the efficient interconnection between the ethnic minority areas in western Sichuan and the Chengdu-Chongqing double-city economic circle, and become the fastest transportation route for the 2 million Yi nationality compatriots in Dashan and Liangshan to get out of the mountain and run for a well-off life. Editor/He Yuting