Xiuling tunnel on Dali-Ruili Railway drilled through

An 8-min tunnel on the Dali-Ruili Railway linking China with Myanmar was drilled through on June 30, setting many new records in the construction of the railway from Dali to Baoshan slated to open by this end of this year.

However, it took 14 years to complete holing through because so many challenges and obstacles added to the difficulty of construction. More than 10,000 workers involved in the construction.

Located in Yangbi Yi Autonomous County of west Yunnan’s Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, the Xiuling Tunnel stretches 17.6 km with the maximum tunnel depth of 1,115 meters. Construction workers have tackled complicated geological conditions since the project commenced.

Due to the complex geological structure, the tunnel crosses seven fault zones that feature soft rocks, mud inrush, seismic intensity and high temperature. All make it rare and risky engineering project in China.

The 330km Dali-Ruili railway, a major project under the national "Mid-Term and Long-term Railway Network Development Program”, will slash the travel time between Dali and Baoshan to around one hour, ending the history of no railway in Baoshan. By now, 19 of the 21 tunnels have been holed through on the railway, which is expected to open to traffic by the end of this year.

Traveling via the railway will allow visitors to see the sceneries in the places of Yangbi, Yongping, Longling, Mangshi and others in west Yunnnan.

Reporting by Zhang Yindi (Yunnan Publish); Trans-editing by Mo Yingyi