Survey of the Zhen'an to Xishui Expressway in Guizhou Province

Project Overview:

The Zhen’an to Xishui Expressway in Guizhou Province (hereinafter referred to as the “Zhen-Xi Expressway”) is the western segment of the “First Horizontal” route within the “6 Horizontals, 7 Verticals, 8 Connectors, and 4 Rings” highway network plan for Guizhou Province, and it constitutes an important component of Guizhou’s primary expressway backbone. The construction and implementation of this project hold significant political, economic, and social importance for perfecting Guizhou’s expressway network, promoting the economic development of northern Guizhou, building the central Guizhou economic zone and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic corridor, intensively developing northern Guizhou’s tourism resources, and accelerating poverty alleviation and wealth creation in the impoverished regions of Wumeng Mountain and Wuling Mountain. The route runs through the counties of Zhen’an, Tongzi, and Xishui in the northern part of Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, with a total length of 130.367 km and a total investment of approximately 17.8 billion yuan. The project’s survey and design work is divided into two bidding sections; our unit is responsible for Bidding Section ZXSJ-1, which covers the main line from chainage K0+000 to K71+462.469, with a total length of 71.562 km and a total investment of about 9.3 billion yuan. The entire route is designed to meet the standards of a four-lane dual-carriageway expressway, with a design speed of 80 km/h, a subgrade width of 24.5 meters, and a design load rating of Class I Highway. Through careful site investigation, the project has effectively avoided major geological hazard zones such as debris flows and fault scarps, saving tens of millions of yuan in construction and installation costs, reducing construction risks, and achieving favorable economic and environmental benefits. At the same time, the project has thoroughly investigated the environmental conditions along the route and its surrounding areas—including water sources, ancient tree clusters, coal mines, and water source protection zones—and has proposed appropriate protective measures, thereby effectively minimizing damage to the natural ecological environment.

Project Highlights:

1. Comprehensive surveying technology for large-span bridges over mountainous canyons—this technology was applied to accurately survey 11 large-span bridges spanning canyon areas, including the Daogjiao Supermajor Bridge and the Huilongtai Bridge. Appropriate remedial measures were adopted, thereby avoiding project waste and changes, and enhancing construction efficiency.

2. Comprehensive exploration techniques for mountainous accumulation bodies and geological route selection allowed us to bypass four areas of deep-seated accumulation bodies that significantly impacted the route design, resulting in total savings of 31.4109 million yuan in construction and installation costs.

3. Comprehensive investigation techniques and engineering geological evaluation for bridge foundations in karst regions—geologically, these provide route and bridge site options for the section from Shaba Bridge to Huoyan Cave Supermajor Bridge, which features highly developed karst formations such as underground river channels and giant sinkholes.

4. The hydrogeological survey and evaluation of karst tunnels crossing mountain ranges have strongly supported the tunnel design while significantly reducing the costs associated with re-identifying alternative drinking water sources. This has ensured a reliable drinking water supply for approximately 8,000 residents in Bajiao Township, yielding highly significant economic and environmental benefits.

5. The exploration technology for complex geological conditions in extra-long, deeply buried tunnels has achieved success in the exploration of the Taoyaya Tunnel—a project lauded by industry experts as a “geological museum of tunnels.” This breakthrough is of great social and economic significance, as it helps to explore and develop scientific and rational exploration methods tailored to the unique characteristics of deep, extra-long tunnel projects in mountainous regions; enhances the overall capability and level of exploration; shortens exploration timelines; reduces exploration costs; serves engineering practice; and improves decision-making capabilities.

Honored Achievements:

The 2021 NEC Tunnel Engineering Award hosted by the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK
Global Road Achievement Award (GRAA) – Environmental Protection Category Prize
Third Prize for National Outstanding Engineering Surveying by the China Exploration and Design Association
First Prize, Guizhou Province Outstanding Engineering Survey and Design Award;
Published 12 academic papers, trained 16 technical backbones and 2 graduate students;

Project Showcase: