THE world’s longest motorway tunnel has finally opened – slashing drivers’ journeys from three hours to just 20 minutes.
The Tianshan Shengli (Victory) Tunnel, located in the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, China, measures some 22 kilometres – roughly 13.75 miles – and cost around £3 billion to build.
Serving as the centrepiece of the £4.9 billion Urumqi-Yuli Expressway, the tunnel comprises two parallel tubes – each carrying two lanes of traffic.
Finally opened to traffic on December 26, the tunnel’s completion dramatically shortens a previously gruelling mountain crossing which, according to officials, once took around three hours through the mountains.
Now, however, the same journey can be completed in approximately 20 minutes.
More so, the expressway is expected to cut the journey between Urumqi and Korla – two of Xinjiang’s major urban centres – from over seven hours to roughly three.
And through existing road networks, it also connects with major economic regions – these include Beijing – Tianjin – Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong – Hong Kong – Macao Greater Bay Area and the Chengdu – Chongqing region.
One 11-km section includes 14 bridges and five tunnels, while the entire tunnel crosses 16 geological fault zones.
Built under conditions that included high ground stress, strong seismic activity, strict environmental requirements, extreme cold and high altitude, it runs through glaciers, grasslands, forested valleys, Gobi desert and wetlands.
It is now expected to support freight movement, tourism and closer economic integration between northern and southern Xinjiang.
Chinese officials have talked up the tunnel – which took roughly five years to construct – as both an engineering milestone and a strategic investment.
Indeed, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning highlighted the project’s impact, describing the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway’s opening as a “major leap in connectivity for Xinjiang”.
China’s Ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, also said the country was “making history once again”.
And Song Hailiang, chairman of China Communications Construction Company, revealed the project has set two world records; as the longest expressway tunnel globally while also featuring the deepest vertical shaft for a highway tunnel.
This comes as, earlier this year, jaw-dropping images were released showcasing plans for the upcoming Lower Thames Crossing.
The UK government is planning to build the huge, motorway-style tunnel in a project that would cost some £9 billion.
The Lower Thames Crossing includes 14.3 miles of new road and Britain’s longest road tunnel, a 2.6-mile twin-bore tunnel beneath the River Thames.
The ambitious project will link the town of Tilbury in Essex to Medway in Kent and would also be connected to the A2 and M2 in Kent, as well as the A13 and M25 in Essex.
And it will provide transport links between London and crossings to Dover – which, of course, account for half of the goods traded between Britain and mainland Europe.
