China completes construction of world’s largest road tunnel

After four years, China has completed construction of its largest road tunnel, the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel. The underground is 22.13 kilometers (km) long and cuts through the Tianshan Mountains, one of the largest mountain ranges in the world. 

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According to the state news agency Xinhuanet, construction faced extreme cold, soil stress and strong seismic activity in the region. However, the opening of the world’s largest road tunnel is scheduled for this year. 

In this way, there will be a relevant improvement in the mobility of populations in the South and North of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, located in northwest China and made up of deserts and mountains.

This is because crossing the central section of the Tianshan Mountains, which corresponds to the tunnel, took hours. With the new feature, travel time increases to 20 minutes by car. 

The world’s largest tunnel is a shortcut for the Chinese

When opened for traffic, the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel will serve as a shortcut between the regional capital of Urumqi in northern Xinjiang to Yuli County in southern Xinjiang. According to the Asian government, travel time between the two locations drops from around seven hours to just over three hours.

The Xinjiang region covers one-sixth of China’s total area, divided into north and south by the Tianshan Mountains, which stretch more than 2,500 km from east to west.

According to China’s government, mountain roads often freeze in winter, blocking freight transport trucks. With this new development, the Chinese production sector can overcome the logistical challenges in the region.

Construction of the road tunnel

The Tianshan Mountains are known as a “geological museum”. Therefore, the tunnel drilling took advantage of the mountain’s flaws to facilitate the work. Furthermore, the tunnel has four ventilation shafts, which form the “respiratory system” of the project.  

According to the government, the engineers divided the work into sectors. This allows the estimated time to complete the tunnel construction to be reduced by 25%. Work began in 2020 and drilling was fully completed in December 2024.

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Author: Isabel Lima