The third stage of renovation project for the Qinghai-Tibet highway has passed appraisal of the expert penal with the Ministry of Communications. After renovation, automobiles will be able to run faster on the highway, with the highest speed of 130 kms per hour, 30 percent higher than before.

Starting from Germu in the north and ends at Lhasa in the south, the Qinghai-Tibet highway is 1, 900 kms long. 70 percent of materials sent to Tibet from inland are transported via the highway. Since the beginning of Qinghai-Tibet railway's construction in 2001, the heavy trucks and machineries have put a heavy burden on the highway. The 450 kms section on the permanent frozen soil, is in particular severely damaged. In order to guarantee the smooth transportation of material and construction of the railway, China decided to renovate the highway in May 2002. The most arduous task, i.e. the section above 4, 000 meters is assigned to the engineering troops of the Armed Police. Having done painstaking work and put growing efforts into scientific developments, the constructors found preliminary solutions for dealing with the easily damaged roadbed on the frozen soil. In this process, they have carried out a total of 11 experiments including the polystyrene heat insulation roadbed, steel fiber reinforced concrete road surface, etc. Of the experiments, polystyrene heat insulation roadbed and steel fiber reinforced concrete road surface have won the scientific advancement prize of Ministry of Communications.

By People's Daily Online