Construction Complete On New High-Speed Rail Tunnel
Inside the completed Desheng Tunnel, and inset, a Chinese high-speed train. Work on the project is now complete.
Construction has just completed on the 14-mile (23-kilometer) Desheng tunnel—China's longest single bore, double-track tunnel, which will accommodate high-speed trains traveling at nearly 125 MPH.
Situated close to an active fault zone, project workers had to deal with earthquakes and landslides during the tunnel's 10-year construction. It is one of 30 such tunnels in the country of a similar size or larger.
In contrast, there have been multiple proposals for high-speed rail in the United States in recent years but none has been completed.
In December, President Joe Biden's administration announced more than $8 billion in funding for 10 projects including for "the first world-class, high-speed rail projects in our country's history."
The newest Chinese tunnel, built by Chinese Railway Group No.2 with design assistance from China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, sits nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level.
It will form part of the wider Chengdu-Huangshengguan section of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway, a 520-mile (836-kilometer) railway and one of the eight high-speed lines connecting north and south China.
A statement on the firm's website said: "With 13 stations along its route, the opening of this railway will enable direct travel by rail to the scenic Jiuzhai Valley."
China Railway Group's site also reports that the station is designed with a three-tiered structure for smoke exhaust at the top, and middle and lower level evacuation.
Passengers using the tunnel can expect to travel up to 125 MPH (200 kilometers an hour). Freight trains will pass through at 75 MPH (120 kilometers an hour).
The Desheng tunnel is slated to enter service later this year.
However, construction on a similar kind of project in the U.S. is also scheduled to begin soon.
The estimated $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project, a tunnel aimed at enhancing rail connectivity between New Jersey and New York by building a new two-track rail tunnel under the Hudson River, is set to begin construction in earnest in 2024.
The Hudson Tunnel Project has already received $12 billion in federal funding and will also rehabilitate the existing North River Tunnel, a 113-year-old piece of infrastructure severely damaged in 2012 during Superstorm Sandy.
The project will ensure that there is redundant capacity, meaning one tunnel can be taken out of service to allow maintenance works without significant commuter disruption.
A spokesperson for the Hudson Tunnel Project told Newsweek: [The project] is a generational investment that is expected to created 95,000 new jobs and generate nearly $20 billion in economic activity over its construction period."
Situated along the Northeast Corridor, one of the busiest rail corridors in the U.S., the project is currently scheduled for completion and opening in 2035.
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