Focus Interview： Rebuilding the ＂Golden Passage＂

　　CCTV News (Focus Interview): Taking the expressway has become one of the main ways for everyone to travel. 307.07 million vehicles, this figure is the cumulative traffic volume of the national expressway network in the past May Day holiday, with an average of more than 61 million vehicles driving on the expressway every day. This figure is nearly 20% higher than the May Day holiday in 2019 before the epidemic. At present, in view of the huge demand and road pressure, there are about 5,000 kilometers of expressway sections in the national expressway network, including the Hubei section of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, which has been in operation for more than 20 years.

　　The upgrading and reconstruction project of Hanjiang Bridge was completed five months ahead of schedule. Before the May Day holiday, the Hubei section of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway resumed truck traffic. In just a few days, the traffic volume rose rapidly. Throughout the May Day holiday, Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao — — The daily traffic volume of this busiest expressway in Hubei exceeds 260,000 vehicles, and nearly 70% of them are logistics freight vehicles from south to north.

　　Wang Bo, instructor of the 2nd Squadron of Caidian Brigade, No.1 Team of Hubei High Police Corps: Dongxihu District of Wuhan City is equivalent to a transit point of national logistics. It is distributed from Dongxihu Lake of Wuhan City first, and then radiated to the periphery of the country, and began to deliver goods. We understand that the majority of freight car drivers are willing to take the old Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway. The so-called Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway is now called Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, and they are willing to take this expressway.

　　It starts in Beijing, with a total length of 2,285 kilometers, and passes through the North China Plain, Jianghan Plain, Central Hunan Plain, Nanling Plain and Pearl River Delta Plain, and finally reaches the ports of Hong Kong and Macao through eight provinces and cities such as Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong. The Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, which was built in the 1980s, is one of the earliest traffic arteries running through the north and south in China, and it is also the "national comprehensive three-dimensional traffic network in 2035".

　　Bin Fan, Deputy Director of Engineering Management Department of Highway Bureau of Ministry of Transport: The most impressive figure of the national comprehensive three-dimensional traffic network is a diamond-shaped map, which has four poles, namely, the northernmost part of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the southernmost part of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta in the east and Chengdu-Chongqing in the west. In the middle of these four poles, a diamond-shaped six-axis is constructed, and Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao is just within the main axis in the north-south direction. The Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway is the most important north-south passage in China.

　　After more than 20 years of operation, the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway has been extended all the way, supporting the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the implementation of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s national strategy, and also driving and witnessing the rapid development of the areas along the route. Wuhan is the epitome of it. The thoroughfare of nine provinces and the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway have made it one of the most developed cities in Central China in 20 years. Wuhan Dongxihu District, which is close to Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, has become the most extensive logistics transit and distribution center in Central China.

　　The Hubei section of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway has a total length of more than 290 kilometers. When construction started in 1998, it was the first expressway with a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour in Hubei Province. The rapid economic growth has brought about a rapid increase in passenger and freight traffic, and the Hubei section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway has long been unable to meet the demand. In China’s 177,000-kilometer expressway network, some expressways built earlier are facing similar problems more or less.

　　Bin Fan: Especially in the central and eastern regions, some economically developed areas, the capacity of highways can no longer fully meet the travel needs of local people and the corresponding needs of passenger and freight transport. After the aorta is opened, the microcirculation is unblocked, and the aorta is opened, the vitality of the whole economy will be instantly driven.

　　After the reconstruction and expansion projects of Hebei and Henan sections of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway were completed successively, the reconstruction and expansion project of the northern section of Hubei Province was officially launched. Hubei’s plan is to upgrade and expand the original two-way four-lane old road into a two-way eight-lane new road by widening subgrade and bridge.　

　　It doesn’t sound complicated. For Hubei, there are problems they must face. One of the challenges is that the whole reconstruction and expansion project must be carried out under the condition of ensuring the normal and safe passage of the whole road. Because the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway is the north-south aorta, it cannot be cut off. This is the first time for Hubei.

　　Shen Diandong, commander of the reconstruction and expansion headquarters of Jiaotou Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in Hubei Province: Our first multi-party meeting involved 42 units, and it was difficult to coordinate. The 42 units coordinated and acted in unison. This difficulty can be imagined.

　　The Hubei section of Beijing-Hong Kong Expressway is connected with many highways and railways, and dozens of related units need coordination. This is a test of the coordination of local departments. Two months ago, the reinforcement and upgrading of the Hanjiang Bridge on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway needed to be completed under the condition that half of the bridge deck was kept open. With the cooperation of traffic police, road administration, operating units and construction parties, the task of traffic guidance and reform was successfully and safely completed.

　　Sean, Captain of the 3rd Brigade of Beijing-Zhuhai Detachment of Hubei Traffic Expressway: This reconstruction and expansion is the first time in Hubei Province to try to construct while opening to traffic, including management experience and pressure from the construction unit, which we have never seen before. When we first started construction, we said that we would go all out to support and unconditionally choose to complete the task with good quality and quantity.

　　On the Hanjiang Bridge, half of the vehicles on the bridge deck pass normally in both directions, and the other half are under construction, which is rare in previous expressway construction. On the one hand, construction, on the other hand, freight and passenger vehicles whizzed past, which became a unique landscape in the reconstruction and expansion project of the northern section of Hubei Province of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway.

　　Hubei, where great rivers flow, is a province of thousands of lakes. The Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway passes through rivers, lakes and many wetlands here. These areas have soft soil and high water content. The existing highway subgrade has been stable since it was opened to traffic for more than 20 years. However, the settlement of the widened new subgrade needs to be controlled to avoid potential safety hazards, which is another difficult problem in the reconstruction and expansion of Hubei section of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway. They need to find local solutions. In the reconstruction and expansion section of East and West Lake of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, precast piles with an average length of 40 meters are being hammered into soft soil one by one.

　　Liu Baiping, Director of Wuhan Branch of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Headquarters in Jiaotou, Hubei Province: The technology of pre-cast piles is widely used in the building system, because the scope of building is relatively limited, but the highway is linear and occupies a wide range. The reason why we consider piling in this place is that the soft soil below is very thick, ranging from 10 to 20 meters thick to 40 to 50 meters thick.

　　Under the 9-kilometer-long pavement, precast piles will be densely covered, and the new road will be built on the subgrade reinforced by precast piles. This is also the first attempt in Hubei.

　　Liu Baiping: There is also a hat on the pile, which is equivalent to a stool. There are legs below, and a hat is worn on one leg. Most of the area is mainly stressed on the pile, forming a composite subgrade.

　　In addition to the treatment of soft soil subgrade, there are many attempts to adapt to local conditions in the process of reconstruction and expansion. In the choice of bridge width, Hanjiang Bridge is a newly built twin-tower cable-stayed bridge in parallel with it, while Fulunhe Bridge is a newly built pile-column assembled bridge like building blocks in parallel with the old bridge.

　　It is precisely because one needs to meet the navigation requirements of the Han River, and the other can save more time and construction cost, including the new use of construction waste, such as the waste asphalt mixture generated when milling and planing the road surface, which will be collected and reused. These practices are accumulating experience for more highway reconstruction and expansion in the future.

　　Bin Fan: As far as we know, the total mileage of the expressway reconstruction and expansion project under implementation has exceeded 5,000 kilometers. The reconstruction and expansion will be carried out immediately, including the Leiyang-Yizhang section of Hunan Province, including the northern section of Beijing-Zhuhai, which is the northern section of Guangdong Province, including the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway. The national expressway aorta has been gradually opened, especially in promoting regional coordination and high-quality development, which has played a more obvious role.

　　In Hubei, the builders of the reconstruction and expansion of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway are still making a brand-new attempt. In the precast beam yard of Fulun River Bridge, the birth of each beam, from steel processing, concrete mixing, pouring and demoulding to steam curing of this beam before leaving the factory, has achieved digital control of the whole process. Before the appearance, each beam will be affixed with a QR code that belongs only to it. Like an ID card, it records all the information about this beam. And these information will also enter the building information model of Hubei section of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in the background. In reality, at the same time of reconstruction and expansion, a digital expressway is also being built simultaneously. This represents one of the most advanced management methods of expressway construction today.

　　After driving the rapid development of the areas along the route for more than 20 years, it is a new vision of the old expressway of Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao to help China’s economy develop with high quality in the new era. Before the May Day holiday, Shen Diandong, commander of the reconstruction and expansion of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in Jiaotou, Hubei Province, specially invited the commander and engineers who built the old Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway more than 20 years ago to the scene of the reconstruction and expansion. A Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, known as the "First Road" at that time, was a monument in the hearts of a whole generation. Now, it will glow with new vitality under the feet of a new generation of road builders. In the evening, the logistics park started the busiest time of the day again. These goods, which are related to our food, clothing, housing and transportation, will run in our direction on the expressway and in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao in the trucks of drivers.

　　By the end of 2022, the total expressway scale in China has reached 177,000 kilometers, ranking first in the world. At the same time, the number of motor vehicles in China has also exceeded 400 million. In order to further open the highway aorta, it is estimated that 25 thousand kilometers of newly rebuilt expressway will be completed during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period. This will play an important role in supporting the national major strategy, improving the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network and promoting the high-quality development of transportation infrastructure. Smooth the aorta and help the great circulation. With the gradual progress of the project, everyone’s travel will be more convenient and smooth in the future.