China's first traffic tunnel under Yangtze River opens

Vehicles runs through China's first traffic tunnel beneath the Yangtze River in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, on December 28, 2008. The 3.63-km long tunnel, which has four lanes, began to go through on the morning of Sunday. The 2.05 billion yuan (299.6 million U.S. dollars) project began in November 2004. It was part of the city's efforts to improve transportation infrastructure and relieve congested roads.(Chinese media/Cheng Min)
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WUHAN, Dec. 28 (Chinese media) -- China's first tunnel

beneath the Yangtze River opened to traffic on Sunday in central China's Hubei

Province.

It is 3.63-km long and has four lanes. Traffic began

to go through the tunnel at about 10 a.m. in Wuhan City.

Travel time between the city's major areas --

Wuchang, where government offices and universities are based, and Hankou, the

business center, is now seven minutes. It used to take half an hour.

Around 50,000 vehicles can travel through the tunnel

going 50 kilometers per hour every day. It can withstand flooding (300

year-flood plain) and an earthquake measuring up to six on the Richter scale,

according to Wuhan's vice mayor Yin Weizhen.

The 2.05 billion yuan (299.6 million U.S. dollars) project began in November 2004. It was part of the city's efforts to improve transportation infrastructure and relieve congested roads.

Vehicles runs through China's first traffic tunnel beneath the Yangtze River in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, on December 28, 2008.(Chinese media/Xiong Jinchao)
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Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, is one of the

largest cities in central China with a population of eight million. It is the

center of five railway lines, six expressways and several highways. The city

serves as the gateway to China's hinterlands and is nicknamed the "thoroughfare

to nine provinces".

Traffic in Wuhan relies on ground transportation

networks and ferry service. Before 1957, people had to cross the river using

only a ferry. After that time, the Wuhan highway-railway bridge was put into

operation. However, the bridge has been overburdened with about 100,000 motor

vehicles and 300 trains crossing it each day.

As a milestone in the history of transportation across the Yangtze River, the new road tunnel was constructed with the most advanced engineering technology in complicated geologic conditions, said Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Engineers and technicians pose for a group photo at the entrance of China's first traffic tunnel beneath the Yangtze River in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, on December 28, 2008.(Chinese media/Xiong Jinchao)
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"The resources used in the construction will provide

valuable references for other tunnel projects and will further promote China's

river-crossing transport development," Wang said.

The 6,300-km long Yangtze River is a major transport

link between west and east China. More than 100 bridges across the Yangtze River

are currently in use.

Construction on another two tunnels beneath the Yangtze has been underway in Shanghai and Nanjing, the capital of the eastern Jiangsu Province.

Photo taken on Dec. 28, 2008 shows an entrance of China's first traffic tunnel beneath the Yangtze River. (Chinese media/Cheng Min)
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