Tianshannet news (Reporter Guo Ling, Correspondent Yao Long, Huang Mengwen): Recently, the erection of girders of the Yuli-Qiemo Highway has been successfully completed, laying a solid foundation for the completion in 2021 of the third desert highway through the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Photo shows erecting girders.

　　The Yuli-Qiemo Highway starts from Yuli County in the north, passes through the Weigan River, the Tarim River, a populus euphratica forest, the Lop Nur Village, the Qarqan River, and reaches Qiemo County in the south, linking the National Highway 315 and the Ruoqiang-Minfeng Expressway respectively. The Yuli-Qiemo Highway is a secondary road standard highway with a design speed of 60-80 kilometers per hour. The contract construction period is from 2017 to 2021.

　　There are three bridges locating at the two ends of the 334-kilometer-long Yuli-Qiemo Highway, namely the Qarqan River No. 1 Bridge and No. 2 Bridge in Qiemo County and the Tarim River Grand Bridge in Yuli County. The prefabricated and erected girder for the bridge is 30 meters long, altogether 205 pieces.

Aerial photo shows a truck transports a girder.

　　After completion of the Yuli-Qiemo Highway, the distance from Qiemo County to Korla City of Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Region will be shortened by 350 kilometers, and the driving time will be shortened from 12 hours to more than 6 hours, effectively alleviating the long travel distance, high living cost and difficulty of selling agricultural produce for the local people.