Wushaoling Tunnel: Difference between revisions

The '''Wushaoling Tunnel''' ({{zh|s=乌鞘岭特长隧道|t=烏鞘嶺特長隧道|p=Wūshāolǐng Tècháng Suìdào}}) is a 21.05&nbsp;km dual-bore railway [[tunnel]] in [[Gansu]], north-west China. The east-bound bore opened on 30 March 2006. The west-bound bore is expected to open in October 2006.<ref name=Intel>{{cite news | url = http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/intelligence-may-2006/ | title = Intelligence | work = [[Railway Gazette International]] | date =1 May 2006-05-01 | accessdate =4 June 2006-06-04}}</ref> It was briefly the longest railway tunnel in China<ref name=fsdi>[{{cite web| url=http://www.fsdi.com.cn/english/projects/wpics.aspx?ID=59| title=The Longest Railway Tunnel in China--Wushaoling Extra-Long Tunnel],| 2006-12-date=26 December 2006}}</ref> until the opening of the 27.84&nbsp;km [[Taihang Tunnel]] in late 2007.

Located on the [[Lanzhou]]-[[Wuwei, Gansu|Wuwei]] section of the [[Lanzhou–Xinjiang Railway]], the tunnel has reduced the distance between Dachaigou and Longgou by 30.4&nbsp;km.<ref name=Intel/> Key to the "[[Eurasian Land Bridge]]",<ref name=fsdi/> the tunnel is part of the 3,651&nbsp;km section linking [[Lianyungang]] on the [[East China Sea]] coast with [[Ürümqi]] in Northwest China.<ref name=AsiaPulse>{{cite news | title = China opens Asia's longest land tunnel railway | work = The Press Trust of India Limited | publisher = Asia Pulse Pty Limited | date = 31 March 2006}}</ref>

The tunnel consists of two bores with centres separated by 40&nbsp;m. It is designed to allow speeds of 160&nbsp;km/h.<ref name=Intel/> The tunnel travels through complex geology, involving four regional fault zones and soft rock. The [[New Austrian Tunnelling method]] was adopted as the construction technique. An elliptical cross-section (horseshoe shape) was used for the majority of the tunnel, with a circular section used in the geologically challenging Fault Zone No. 7.<ref name=Yang>{{cite journal | last = Yang | first = J.S. | coauthors = et al. |date=May–July 2006 | title = Interactions of four tunnels driven in squeezing fault zone of Wushaoling Tunnel | journal = Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology | volume = 21 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 359 | doi = 10.1016/j.tust.2005.12.176}}</ref> The right (east-bound) bore was constructed first, while the left tunnel was a parallel drift with smaller diameter to be enlarged later. The gradient is mainly 1.1%. The Wuwei portal has an altitude of 2447&nbsp;m, and the Lanzhou portal 2663&nbsp;m. The maximum depth of the tunnel is 1100&nbsp;m.<ref name=Liu>{{cite journal | last = Liu | first = Zhichun | coauthors = et al. |date=May–July 2006 | title = Synthetical analysis on monitoring of Wushaoling railway tunnel | journal = Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology | volume = 21 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 363–364 | doi = 10.1016/j.tust.2005.12.180 }}</ref>

On 26 June 2003 [[Interfax]] reported that the total investment for the project was [[Renminbi|¥]] 7 billion ($845 million), that the project commenced construction in November 2002 and that is was scheduled to take six and a half years to complete. Also reported was that Chinese steel manufacturer Lingyuan Iron and Steel (Linggang) would provide 4,360 tons of steel products for the tunnel project.<ref name=Interfax>{{cite news | title = Lingyuan Iron & Steel to Supply Steel Products for Asia's Longest Railway Tunnel | publisher = [[Interfax|Interfax Companies & Commodities]] | date =26 June 2003-06-26}}</ref>