World's First "Soundproof" Tunnel to Open Next Month in China

The world's first "soundproof tunnel" for high speed trains operating at up to 350km/h along a section of the intercity railway linking Beijing with Xiong'an New Area, a state-level new area in the Baoding area of Hebei, was announced as almost entirely completed as of June 21.

The sound barrier project has a total length of 847.25 meters. The main structure adopts a circular steel frame with a span of 12.08 meters and a height of 9.4 meters, including a metal sound insulation board unit with a total area of about 2.2 square meters used on the periphery, which will minimize the noise generated by high-speed rails passing through the bridge.

According to Zhang Tengfei, the initiative’s chief engineer from the Shanghai Civil Engineering Group Co., part of the China Railway Group Limited (CREC), the project integrated several advanced technologies for the first time in China, such as the integral welding technology of arch structure, to put this behemoth of an architectural feat together.

Li Baoge, Party branch secretary of the project, said that despite the epidemic, the overall construction development was nearly half a month ahead of schedule and the project is expected to be fully completed in early July.

Once the Beijing-Xiong'an intercity railway begins operating, the Xiong'an New Area will be directly connected to major hubs along the eastern border of China, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and other major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It will only take 30 minutes from Xiong’an to reach Beijing and 60 minutes to Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province.

The project was first announced on February 28, 2018 with a budget of RMB 33.5 billion (US$ 4.7 billion) to further advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. 

Source: xinhua

Editor: Crystal H

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