The Baishitou Tunnel on the Dali-Lincang Railway Line in southwest China's Yunnan Province was holed through on Saturday after 1,552 days of hard construction, making it possible to complete construction of the railway on the Routes of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road by the end of this year.
The piotal tunnel, 9,375 meters long, lies in Yunxian County of Yunnan. The tunnel runs under a river, with a minimum distance between the river and the tunnel measuring about eight meters.
As the surroundings are mostly soft rocks such as sericite schists and carbonaceous schists, which have been cracked in earthquakes, the construction workers managed to shorten the distance of clay that they carved out each time, and installed a lining on the tunnel face with concrete to give rocks a better support.
After the 1,552-day hard work, the construction workers succeeded in tunneling through the mountain as scheduled.
The Dali-Lincang Railway is an important route of Yunnan's railway network. The railway, measuring 202 kilometers long in total, will run through Weishan County and Nanjian County and pass the Lancang River before reaching Lincang City.
Upon its completion, it will end the history that Lincang has no railways.
Dali-Lincang Railway in Yunnan tunneled through
