On the 13th of April, a project for repairing and reconstructing the Tongmai section of Sichuan-Tibet highway with “five tunnels and two bridges” was officially opened to the public, therein marking the accomplishment of the paving of the roads within Tibet belonging to the Sichuan-Tibet public road of China’s 318 national highway, and the well-known “bottleneck” section along the Sichuan-Tibet public road within Tibet territory has become history.

Photo shows cars drive on the newly constructed Bolonggou Grand Bridge

The project regarding repairing and reconstructing the Tongmai section of Sichuan-Tibet highway with “five tunnels and two bridges” has officially been opened to the public, and the “Tongmai natural barrier” along the Sichuan-Tibet public road has become paving.

 In the morning of April the 13th, mist wreathed the Bolongzangbu River, and the newly constructed Bolonggou Grand Bridge flew over the world third biggest canyon- the Bolongjiangbu Canyon, which has a mighty look. Up above the violently surging Yigongzangbu River there stand side by side the three bridges of the Tongmai suspension Bridge, the Baotong Bridge for cars and the 256-meter single-span monotower Bridge, which is a significant figure in the development history of Tibet highway transportation.

At 11 o’clock, Losang Jamcan, the deputy secretary of the region party committee and the president of the Tibet Autonomous Region, declared: The project regarding repairing and reconstructing the Tongmai section of Sichuan-Tibet highway has been completed and is officially opened to traffic. This marked the accomplishment of the paving of the roads within Tibet belonging to the Sichuan-Tibet public road of China’s 318 national highway, and the well-known “bottleneck” section on the Sichuan-Tibet public road within Tibet territory has become history.

The Tongmai section of the Sichuan-Tibet highway is located at the “world’s second biggest mudslide complex”, geological disasters such as mudslides and landslides occur frequently here, so it has come to be referred to as a “natural barrier”. Due to frequent geological disasters, transportation along the Tongmai road section of the Sichuan-Tibet highway is usually blocked, which seriously restrains normal commuting on the Sichuan-Tibet passageway and it is also very unsafe for cars and people passing this through this section of the road. With the great support of different governmental departments such as the Chinese Party Central Committee, the State Council as well as the Ministry of Transportation, the project involving the repair and reconstruction of the Tongmai section was considered as the 12th Five-Year Plan’s core project with a total investment numbering to 1.5 billion RMB.

Losang Jamcan indicated that, after three years of hardships, efforts and careful implementation, in the year in which the 13th Five-Year Plan starts, the project regarding repairing and reconstructing the Tongmai section of Sichuan-Tibet highway has  completed and officially is opened to traffic. This is a significant project in the construction process of the Sichuan-Tibet highway and indicates the improvement of highway transportation techniques and reduces to the highest degree the impacts of the geological disasters on the Sichuan-Tibet highway. At the same time, it will resolve restrictions resulted from the bottleneck Tibetan road section on the Sichuan-Tibet highway which will boost socio-economic development as well as the long and peaceful reign of the region.