this morning,The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, the world's longest highway tunnel, was opened to traffic, marking the completion of the Wuwei Expressway connecting north and south Xinjiang.. Wuwei Expressway is the core component of the national expressway network G0711 Urumqi-Ruoqiang Expressway, with a total length of 324.7 kilometers. The entire line is constructed to two-way 4-lane expressway standards. The line starts from Urumqi, passes through Hejing County, Yanqi Hui Autonomous County, Korla City, and reaches Yuli County.
After more than five years of construction, the G0711 Urumqi-Yuli Expressway was opened to traffic today. The driving time from Urumqi to Korla was shortened from the previous 7 hours to 3.5 hours..
The Wuwei Expressway crosses the Tianshan Mountains and connects cities and villages in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. The main line is equipped with 12 interchanges, 17 tunnels and hundreds of bridges, culverts, passages, etc. Among them, the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel is a full-line control project.
The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel has a total length of 22.13 kilometers, setting two world records for the world's longest highway tunnel and the world's deepest highway shaft.
The tunnel was built in the hinterland of the Tianshan Mountains at an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters. It is surrounded by mountains and covered with snow all year round. The lowest temperature is -42°C. The maximum burial depth in the tunnel is 1,112 meters. The deepest shaft is more than 700 meters. It needs to cross 16 geological fault zones.
Affected by environmental factors such as high ground stress, high seismic intensity, high environmental protection requirements, high cold, and high altitude, construction is extremely difficult.
After more than four years of arduous excavation, the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel was successfully completed at the end of 2024, crossing the Tianshan Mountains in 20 minutes, completely opening up the natural traffic barrier between northern and southern Xinjiang..
