Workers continue the construction of the Yuxi-Mohan section of the China-Laos railway, which is within Chinese territory, on Sunday. After construction of the China-Laos railway is completed at the end of 2021, visitors will be able to take an overnight train to Vientiane, Laos from Kunming, China. Photo: cnsphoto

The construction of a 15.2-km-long tunnel on the China-Laos railway was completed on Sunday, and the constructors said the railway link will come into operation in 2021.

The Ganzhuang tunnel, located in Yuanjiang County in Yuxi City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, was the first high-risk tunnel stretching 15 kilometers to be built along the railway, according to the China Railway Kunming Group Co.

Due to complicated geological conditions such as the deformation of soft rocks, an S-shape design was adopted to reduce the tunnel's slope, said Zhang Jianfeng, a project manager with the China Railway 17th Bureau Group Co, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

A key project on the Yuxi-Mohan section of the China-Laos railway is Yuanjiang Railway Bridge, which is of significance due to its "sky high" pier. As the section is within Chinese territory, it will serve as a key link between China and landlocked Laos.

Yuanjiang Railway Bridge in Yuxi City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province Photo: Courtesy of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group

The bridge contractor, China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group (CREC4), told the Global Times on Monday that more than 80 percent of the girders have been erected, and the bridge is expected to be finished in July 2021. 

In order to offset the shortage of construction workers from Central China's Hubei, the province hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak in China, CREC4 deployed workers from East China's Shandong Province. 

The steel truss beam across the 154-meter pier was finished in April and construction is forging ahead steadily, said CREC4. 

When construction of the 1,000-km-long China-Laos railway is completed at the end of 2021, visitors will be able to take overnight trains to Vientiane, Laos, from Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province.

Global Times