A number of leading highways and railroad bridges in western China were completed and opened to traffic just in time for China's National Day, which fell on October 1.

China's second desert road, or the Qieta Desert Highway as it is named, which runs through the Taklimakan Desert, the country's largest, opened to traffic on October 4. The road links Qiemo with Korla counties in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The use of this highway cuts the two-day trip between Qiemo and Korla to just eight hours.

Meanwhile, an expressway connecting the Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali and Baoshan in southwest China's Yunnan province opened on September 29. The construction of the east-west section in Yunnan province required an investment of seven billion yuan (some 850 million US dollars). It is considered to be the most expensive and the most difficult, from an engineering point of view, ever built in Yunnan.

The principal part of the 1,390-meter-long railway bridge located at the source of the Yangtze River in northwest China's Qinghai province was completed on September 25, more than 300 days ahead of schedule.

Moreover, work on the four key bridges along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is expected to be completed by mid-October.

Approximately 110 bridge abutments have been installed. Construction of the bridges, which is taking place at an elevation of 4,800 meters, is a hard nut to crack from an engineering point of view, given the complex geographical features and the frozen earth.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2002)