New expressway passing Hechi expected to open to traffic next year

An aerial view of Bama-Pingguo Expressway. [Photo/Guangxi Daily] 

To date, 93 percent of the foundation earth and stone work for the Bama-Pingguo section of the Tian'e-Beihai Expressway has been completed. It is expected to be halfway opened to traffic before the Spring Festival next year and fully opened sometime in 2022.

The Bama-Pingguo Expressway is an important part of the inter-provincial highway connecting Guizhou province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The estimated total investment in the project is 14.01 billion yuan ($2.2 billion), and the construction period is expected to last for 38 months. Construction started in December last year, and as of October this year the cumulative investment reached 5.88 billion yuan, accounting for 41.9 percent of the total.

The expressway will have a total length of 75 kilometers, six two-way lanes, and 12 tunnels, the bridge and tunnel account for 34 percent of the total length. The expressway starts at the Hongchu Interchange connecting Du'an-Bama Expressway and passes through Hechi's Dahua Yao autonomous county, Baise's Pingguo county, and Nanning's Mashan county.

"The rock surrounding the expressway is rather unstable, making construction difficult," said Liang Peng, chief engineer at the Bama-Pingguo Expressway Project Headquarters. According to Liang, in the face of a series of challenges, they standardized management before construction on the tunnels began in order to ensure that the ultra-wide tunnels could be constructed safely amid complex terrain and geological conditions. Bridge and tunnel excavation for the expressway is now 43 percent completed.