One of China's largest construction projects is impressing engineers around the world. Discover the Chinese mega-construction that defies the limits of engineering and nature.
Chinese mega construction: The Chinese continue to amaze the world with remarkable advances in engineering, completing breathtaking construction projects in record time. Notable examples include a 10-story building built in just 30 hours and an incredible 20.000 homes built in 72 hours. These achievements demonstrate that China is not only mastering the art of construction, but also redefining the limits of what is possible in modern engineering.
Now, the Asian giant is once again attracting global attention with an ambitious project that promises to be a milestone in the history of global infrastructure: the construction of an underwater tunnel that will cross the sea. This tunnel, designed to connect important regions of the country, will be one of the longest and most complex in the world, reinforcing China's leadership in mega engineering projects. In this article, we will explore the details of this impressive project that is already attracting the attention of engineers and experts around the world.
Chinese mega-construction cost US$3 billion
This, which is one of the largest constructions in China, is being designed not only to facilitate the transportation of cargo and people, but also to further increase the country's economy, making it clear why it is the second largest economy on the planet.
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The Chinese mega construction, which is about 9,7 km long, cost US$ 3 billion and the purpose of this giant tunnel is to meet an economic need, as the most important areas of Qingdao, where the project is being built, are divided by the sea.
In 2012, Qingdao Conson Development began preliminary research on the Chinese mega-construction project, with the country's leading experts, carrying out four pre-feasibility studies and 15 feasibility studies, where they decided that it would be necessary to do the largest underwater road tunnel in history with an impressive 15,89 km in length, effectively connecting the coastal areas, where it will have six lanes in each direction and will be at depths of up to 115 M below sea level, showing that it will be something truly grand.
Challenges encountered for the enterprise could come out of the paper
Despite the country's vast experience in large-scale construction in China, this project has become a real challenge, which will require a lot of effort and dedication on the part of its engineers, as the drilling of this tunnel will have to face two distinct rock formations, where one side is formed by robust granite, while the other is composed of soft limestone and sand, requiring different methods to be used for each of them.
In addition, there are also 22 faults along the route of the Chinese mega-construction, one of which is the great Cangkou fault, which extends for more than 200 m and divides the two types of soils mentioned. For the feasibility of the project, there are several methods for this type of service, one of which is the immersed tube method, which although frequently used, is very expensive and harmful to the environment, which automatically makes it not at all advantageous.
Another method for starting Chinese mega construction
The drilling and blasting method, which is ideal for breaking hard and solid rocks, and the shield tunneling method, which is widely used in subway construction and considered the most reliable, are the ideal combination for removing the more than 8 million cubic meters of rock from the site, which, in addition to already being a highly challenging value, will also be an extremely complex undertaking, taking into account the distribution of the rock formations on this terrain.
Overall, the project for one of the largest constructions in China will consist of three tunnels, the outbound and return tunnels with six lanes each, and finally the third, which is the most important, as it will be through this tunnel that ventilation will take place and also to prevent gases emitted by vehicles or by an explosion from harming people's health, which makes it clear that safety is also a priority.
After all these procedures, the necessary finishing touches will be carried out for its completion, such as lighting, signaling and painting of the lanes, until this mega project, which will be the largest submerged road tunnel in the world, with more than 15 km in length, can be fully completed in 2027.