What is the challenge of

building the world's first railway line

around desert?

Several "firsts"

created in the construction of Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway

maybe can tell you the answer

Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway (Photo by Xinjiang Railway)

It is the first railway in China

to use sand control, greening and irrigation technology

It is the first in China to use the pipe network system of automatic intelligent control drip irrigation in railway construction and maintenance. In order to improve the survival rate of plants, the system has drilled 131 wells in total, with a maximum depth of 280 meters, and a coverage area of 1,135,100 mu. (Photo by Xinjiang Railway)

A large area of trees and shrubs are planted on both sides of Hotan-Ruoqiang railway. Builders have adopted the pipe network system of automatic intelligent control drip irrigation, which is the first in China. This system integrates water purification equipment, fertilization equipment and centralized supervisory and control equipment in the assembled box, and adopts mobile phone intelligent control, so the operators can turn on or off the equipment remotely and check the irrigation time to achieve uniform irrigation in each zone, ensure the water required by plants and save water.

It is the first desert railway in China

to use prefabricated pier engineering technology

Animation demonstration of prefabricated pier installation. (Photo by Xinjiang Railway)

In view of the fact that most of the railway lines are located in the depopulated zones, such as deserts and Gobi, so getting water supply during construction and concrete maintenance along the line are difficult, and the traditional cast-in-place concrete construction cannot meet the construction needs, so the builders adopted the prefabrication and assembly technology for pier engineering for 434 piers, completed the processing of prefabricated components in the factory and transported them to the site for assembly, effectively overcoming the impact of sandstorm on the quality of the project and construction progress so as to ensure the safety of the project quality.

It is the longest railway in China

to use the bridge instead of road to prevent encroachments by sandstorms

Photo taken in August, 2021 shows the rail line laying work of Ruokeyate Bridge, the highest super major bridge of the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway has been completed. (Photo by Wang Jianhong)

In view of the fact that it is easy for the railroad to be buried due to the sand and wind storms and the dynamic migration of sand dunes in the railway section, so in the section with high rates of wind and sand storms, the builders adopted the designing scheme of replacing the road with a bridge to effectively reduce the impact of wind and sand on the railway and the operation order of train. There are 5 main bridges lines in the whole railway line of a total length of 49.738 km. The construction of bridges can allow the sand to pass under the bridges, greatly reducing the threat of sand to the railway.

It is the first railway in Xinjiang

to lay the longest cross section jointless rail line at one time

Photo shows a builder of Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway saws tracks before rail welding. (Photo by Wen Xinhua)

On October 28, 2021, with the successful completion of welding the last rail joint, the rails of the whole Hotan- Ruoqiang Railway are seamlessly connected, achieving "one rail for thousands of miles". Zhang Gang, a person in charge of Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway laying and erecting of China Railway 14th Bureau Group Co., Ltd., said that the whole railway line adopts seamless rails, and the temperature difference between day and night in the desert exceeds 50 ℃, which has extremely high requirements for the construction and operation of seamless rails. Advanced mobile flash welding technology is adopted in the construction, and each welding head has to undergo end grinding and precise flaw detection, providing a stretched and smooth railroad for trains, and realizing the spectacular scene of "one rail for a thousand miles". When taking the train, passengers will have the same smooth and steady experience as taking G-series high-speed train.

These ‘firsts’

show the strength of China making

And it has also fulfilled the long cherished wish of the people of all ethnic groups along the line

to take a train at their home

Photo taken at 10:53 am on June 16, 2022 shows media reporters interviewing at Hotan Station. With the first train departing from Hotan Station, Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway was put into operation. (Shiliuyun- Xinjiang Daily/ Zhao Jing)

(A written permission shall be obtained for reprinting, excerpting, copying and mirroring of the contents published on this website. Unauthorized aforementioned act shall be deemed an infringement, of which the actor shall be held accountable under the law.)