This Friday, China put into service the Shengli tunnel, in the Tianshan mountain range, a 22.13 kilometer long infrastructure which becomes in the longest continuous road tunnel in the world and which crosses the center of the Xinjiang region, in the northwest of the country.
The tunnel is part of the G0711 Urumqi-Yuli Expressway, which opened on the same day and connects urban areas in northern and southern Xinjiang. The new way reduces a mountain trip to around 20 minutes which previously required several hours, according to data published in recent hours by state media.
The infrastructure crosses the Tianshan Mountain Range, a mountain range of approximately 2,500 kilometers that divide the region and separates the regional capital, Urumqi, from Korla, the main city in southern Xinjiang.
With the opening of the highway, travel time between the two urban centers is reduced from about seven hours to about three hours. The project was carried out over five years and covers a total route of 324.7 kilometers, with an estimated investment of 46.7 billion yuan ($6.63 billion).
In some sections, the complexity of the terrain has forced a high concentration of infrastructure, with one 11 kilometer section in which the proportion of bridges and tunnels exceeds 90%according to official media.
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