G4218 Ya'an–Kargilik Expressway

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alt=Ya'an–Kargilik Expressway shield
Ya'an–Kargilik Expressway
雅安－叶城高速公路
Yeya Expressway
雅叶高速
Ya’an-Kangding Highway in Sichuan Province,China 17 48 34 982000.jpeg
Route information
Auxiliary route of G42
Length1,975.508 km (1,227.524 mi)
Major junctions
East end G93 in Yucheng District, Ya'an
Major intersections
West end G3012 in Yecheng, Hotan
Ya'an-Kangding
Length130.130 km (80.859 mi)
East end G93 in Yucheng District, Ya'an
West end G318 in Kangding
Kangding Bypass
Length17.893 km (11.118 mi)
East endDongshenghang, Kangding
West endYulin New Town, Kangding
Kangding-Xinduqiao
Length79.2 km (49.2 mi)
East endYulin New Town, Kangding
West end G318 in Dong'eluosan village,
Xinduqiao-Nyingchi
Length1,260 km (780 mi)
East end
West endNyingchi
Nyingchi-Lhasa High-Standard Highway
Length409.2 km (254.3 mi)
East end G318 in Bayi District, Nyingchi
West end G318 in Chengguan District, Lhasa
G0602 Lhasa Ring Expressway
Lhasa-Xigazê Peace Airport
Length29 km (18 mi)
East endShiji Avenue, Lhasa
West end Tibet S1 (Gonggar Airport Express) Xierong Interchange, Qüxü County, Lhasa
Xigazê Airport Expressway
Length166.976 km (103.754 mi)
East end Tibet S1 (Gonggar Airport Express) Xierong Interchange, Qüxü County, Lhasa
West end G318
Xigazê-Xinjiang border
Length40.404 km (25.106 mi)
East end G318
West end G318 Samzhubzê District, Xigazê
Xinjiang section
Length705 km (438 mi)
East end
West end G3012 in Yecheng, Hotan
Highway system
← →

The Ya'an-Yecheng Expressway (Chinese: 雅安－叶城高速公路), commonly referred to as the Yaye Expressway (Chinese: 雅叶高速) is an expressway that will traverse the entirety of Tibet and link Ya'an in Sichuan to Yecheng in Xinjiang.

Description[]

In a unique case for a spur route, when fully completed, its length will be over 4,000 km (1975.508 km between Ya'an and Qüxü alone), much longer than the G42 Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway itself, making it the only spur route in the world to be longer than twice its principal route, the longest spur route in the world, and the second-longest route in the entire NTHS system. The longest national spur route outside China is NH 1A (India) at 663 km, while the G0612 Xining–Hotan Expressway will become the second-longest spur route at roughly 2,400 km.

It's also exceptionally important for a spur route, as it traverses all of Tibet, and without it the entire prefectures of Garzê, Nyingchi, Shannan (via ), Xigazê and Ngari wouldn't connect to the NTHS system at all. It is practically an extension of G42, but shares its last two digits with the culturally prestigious[1] China National Highway 318, which parallels it for the Ya'an-Lhatse section, and which in turn is part of AH 42.

Moreover, it does not even connect to G42: the Chengdu-Ya'an section of G5/G93 links them, and together they will create an uninterrupted, non-detouring domestic drive between Shanghai and Kargilik that is over 6,000 km long.

Right now, it has yet to be completed, and only the Ya'an-Kangding section is currently linked to the system, which is currently only 135 km in length. The Qüxü-Lhasa and Lhasa-Nyingchi sections are completed but isolated from the rest of the network.

Background[]

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference conducted research in 2015 showing that despite 60 years of efforts that changed the primitive transportation methods in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, infrastructure is still lacking:

We have good mountains, good forests, good people, but bad roads... ...The highway/railway/airport density in the Tibetan Autonomous region is still far below the national average, the Tibetan areas of Sichuan have no railways, the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is the only prefecture without First-class highways and completed expressways in Sichuan Province...

— Officials and commoners along the Sichuan-Tibet corridors, as recorded by CPPCC in 2015, [2]

It is considered impractical to construct all sections of the Sichuan-Tibet expressways and railway all at once.[2]

Construction[]

The following words were used to solely describe the Ya'an-Kangding section, but any section east of Nyingchi and west of Xigazê won't be much easier:

Constructing this section is nothing but climbing the Mount Everest of expressway construction. If we can solve the various technical problems regarding this, we would be more than capable to easily handle any other expressway project anywhere else.

— Involved experts after a comprehensive survey, [3]

The Ya'an-Kangding section alone climbs 2,000 m of altitude over its 130 km route. The Ya'an-Xichang expressway earned the nickname of "the ladder to heaven" for its steepness, but it still pales in comparison to this section. It's considered at least "extreme on five aspects", namely geography, geology (the region not only being prone to earthquakes, but also difficult to tunnel through), climate, ecology, and engineering challenge. Some people in charge of construction reportedly reacted with disbelief upon first seeing the detailed plan.

The Kangding Bypass section encountered hundreds of rock bursts that affected the safety of the project. Paomashan Tunnel 1 couldn't be constructed as a straight line for not even tunneling straight through mountains could bring steepness down to NTHS expressway standards, having a 220m difference in altitude between its entrance and exit.[4]

Details of people documenting the difficulties encountered in the construction of G4218 is widely available in Chinese but not in other languages.[5] The Lhasa-Nyingchi section has a projected cost of CN¥92 million/km, and for the Kangding-Xinduqiao section the figure is CN¥192 million/km, which is equivalent to US$72 million/mile (PPP, rather than nominal exchange rates), compared to the usual maximum US$9 million/mile for rural expressways.

Constructing costs of G42 and its auxiliaries (figures with ~ are estimates) (all costs are in CN¥100 million)
NTHS number Section Length (km) Projected Cost Cost per km Notes
G42 Shanghai-Chengdu 1,960 ~3,000 ~1.53 CN¥1,700 million excluding upgrades and adjusted for inflation.
G4201 Wuhan Loop 188 ~100 ~0.53
G4202 Chengdu Loop 85 ~50 ~0.59
G4211 Nanjing-Wuhu 74 ~100 ~1.35 CN¥71 million used for upgrades from 4 to 8 lanes.
G4212 Hefei-Anqing 171 ~150 ~0.88 Including sections later designated G3 and G50.
G4213 Macheng-Hong'an 25 25 1.0
Hong'an-Dawu 57 25 0.439
Dawu-Baokang 546 ~600 ~1.10
Full length G4213 ~628 ~650 ~1.04
G4215 Chengdu-Chishui 308 198 0.643
Chishui-Renhuai 157 143 0.911
Renhuai-Zunyi 36 24 0.667
Full length G4215 501 365 0.729
G4216 Chengdu-Renshou 71 n/a n/a Cost already accounted for, as it's part of the Chengdu-Chishui section of G4215.
Renshou-Manjing 6.6 ~5 ~0.76 Part of Sichuan Expressway S40
Manjing-Xinshizhen, Yibin ~165 222 ~1.35
Xinshizhen, Yibin-Panzhihua 429 826 1.925 452km including branch access roads
Considered the most expensive single-section contract in road construction in China[6]
Panzhihua-Shilongba ~51 55 ~1.08
Shilongba-Lijiang ~142 303 ~2.13
Full length G4216 ~865 1,411 ~1.63
G4217 Chengdu-Dujiangyan 36 ~20 0.556
Dujiangyan-Wenchuan 72 ~80 1.111 CN¥32 million discounting upgrades, before adjusted for inflation
Wenchuan-Barkam 172 287 1.669
Barkam-Qamdo ~720 ~1,600 ~2.2
Full length G4217 ~1,000 ~1,987 ~1.99
G4218 Ya'an-Kangding 130.130 230 1.767 [7]135km including Kangding city access
Kangding Bypass 17.893 32 1.788 [8][4]
Kangding-Xinduqiao 79.2 152 1.919 [9]
Xinduqiao-Nyingchi ~1,260 ~2,500 ~1.98
Nyingchi-Lhasa 409 380 0.929
Lhasa Gonggar Airport Express 29.6 15.9 0.537 [10]37.8km if Including Xierong Interchange-Gonggar Airport
Xierong Interchange-Shigatse Peace Airport 166.976 286 1.713 [11]
Shigatse Airport Express 40.404 19.21 0.475 [12][13]
Shigatse-Shiquanhe ~1,500 ~2,000 ~2.0
Shiquanhe-Jieshandaban ~1,000
Jieshandaban-Yecheng ~705 ~2,000 ~2.8
Full length G4218 ~4,300 ~8,500 ~2.0
G4221 Wuhan-Yingshan 124 54 0.435
Yingshan-Yuexi 68.5 48 0.701
Yuexi-Fangangzhen 64 ~400 ~0.73
Fangangzhen-Lujiang 43 Cost already accounted for, as it's part of G4212.
Lujiang-Shijianzhen 73
Shijianzhen-Shanghai 367
Full length G4221 696.5 ~502 ~0.68
Total G42(XX) ~10,400 ~17,000 ~1.63
Entire US Interstate Highway System 77,960 ~30,000 ~0.38 Nominal exchange rates
~19,000 ~0.24 Purchasing Power Parity
exceptionally difficult sections are in red

Ya'an-Kangding Section[]

135 km long, finished. This section costs CN¥23 billion for 135 km.[7] However, only 130.130 km is on the main line,[14] the rest is linking it to Kangding city center.[15]

Kangding Bypass[]

Under construction. Has a projected cost of CN¥3.2 billion.[8][4]

Kangding-Xinduqiao Section[]

Planning finished. This section has a projected cost of CN¥15.2 billion for 79 km (actual costs may be higher).[9]

Xinduqiao-Nyingchi Section[]

Planned.

Nyingchi-Lhasa High-Standard Highway[]

Finished. It has the full characteristics of an expressway, but isn't tolled. This section had a projected cost of CN¥38 billion for 409 km (actual costs may be higher).

G0602 Lhasa Ring Expressway[]

Long-term plan.

Lhasa Gonggar Airport Expressway[]

Main article: Lhasa Airport Expressway

Completed in 2011.[10] The Lhasa City Center-Xierong Interchange section constitutes part of G4218.

Xierong Interchange-Xigazê Peace Airport[]

Under construction. 166.976 km long.[11] The section east of Qüxü has been completed and it will give a total projected length of 1975.508 km between Ya'an and Qüxü[16]

Xigazê Airport Expressway[]

Links the airport with the city center. 40.404 km long. [12]

Xigazê-Shiquanhe, Gar County, Ngari Prefecture[]

Although the Ngari Prefecture is the pole of inaccessibility of China, as of the 2035 plan, all prefectural capitals will be connected to the NTHS without exceptions,[17] meaning that this section is intended to be finished by no later than then.

Shiquanhe, Gar County-Jieshan Pass[]

Long-term plan.

Jieshan Pass-Yecheng[]

705 km long. Included in Xinjiang's plan but won't be finished before 2025.[18] The corresponding national highway section is the most dangerous and unmaintainable national standard route in the nation.

References[]

  1. ^ "中国人的景观大道——国道318全线鸟瞰图", 中国国家地理 (2006–10)
  2. ^ a b "全国政协"加快推动川藏大通道建设"考察综述：雪域高原 再筑天路". rmzxb.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-03-17.
  3. ^ "一条天路连通西南西北 百公里路建设创多项第一——G4218雅叶高速公路雅康段（雅安至泸定）区间试通车侧记". www.yaan.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  4. ^ a b c "挑战世世界级高差难题 跑马山一号隧道年内贯通". www.snxw.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  5. ^ "了不起的奋斗者！雅康高速公路获国家级最高奖项，其震撼建设过程曝光！". www.163.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  6. ^ "四川又一超级工程来了 国内单体投资最大高速路——沿江高速效果图首次亮相！". people.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  7. ^ a b "四川藏区将添新"天路"雅康高速公路全线建成 即将试通车运营". sichuan.scol.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  8. ^ a b "雅安至叶城国家高速公路康定过境段（甘孜州康定市至新都桥高速）". m.sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  9. ^ a b "康定至新都桥段高速公路项目建设获省政府授权估算投资152亿元". www.gzz.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  10. ^ a b "习近平为西藏第一条高速公路剪彩". www.chinanews.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-04.
  11. ^ a b "拉日高速日喀则段复工，交通项目复工序幕开启". xz.people.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  12. ^ a b "日喀则机场高速公路正式通车". www.sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  13. ^ "日喀则机场公路将动工到市区只需半小时". district.ce.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  14. ^ "四川省交通科技项目雅安至叶城国家高速公路康定过境段项目建设关键技术研究招标公告". www.122bid.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  15. ^ "雅康高速公路康定连接线建成通车". gzw.sc.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  16. ^ "G4218雅叶高速拉萨段通车试运行". www.xizang.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15.
  17. ^ "我国县级行政中心将15分钟上国道、30分钟上高速路、60分钟上铁路". sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15.
  18. ^ "新疆维吾尔自治区综合交通（公路）发展战略（2018-2030）" (PDF). www.xinjiang.gov.cn. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-06-15.
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