2012-08-13 15:02:26(Beijing Time) China Daily
An expressway in Northwest China which cost 8.7 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) has been struck by
subsidence again just one year after it opened to traffic, China Youth Daily reported Friday.
The 235-kilometer Tianding Expressway (天定高速) runs from Tianshui (天水) to Dingxi (定西) in Gansu,
and was only completed and opened on May 31st this year.
"Tianding Expressway must be the worst one in China. Despite the road surface subsidence, rat-holes-
like cavity dot the road," complained Zhang Jun, a lawyer in Northwest China's Gansu province on his
micro blog in July.
Heavy rain has saturated supportive slopes, causing the subsidence, said Tan Yingpeng, engineering
division chief of Gansu transport department.
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JE3oUUx-dk8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tianding is not the only expressway affected by the persistent rainfall, according to Tan. His statement
is supported by statistics released by Gansu transport department which says a number of other
national highways also suffered due to the heavy rain in Gansu province.
This is not the first time the 235-kilometer long Tianding Expressway has drawn public criticism for
subsidence. Not long after it opened to traffic in 2011, subsidence struck the poorly built highway and
drivers have called it "jelly-built" since.
Despite local authorities ordering an in-depth investigation into the cause of the subsidence following
public pressure, one year on, the results have still not been published.
Meanwhile, the Chinese internet is abuzz with criticisms on why repairs are again being awarded to the
same contractors who were initially tasked with building the road.
This is despite the fact that an average of 37 million RMB was spent for each kilometer of the Tianding
Expressway, when the usual cost is approximately 100 million RMB.
An expressway in Northwest China which cost 8.7 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) has been struck by
subsidence again just one year after it opened to traffic, China Youth Daily reported Friday.
The 235-kilometer Tianding Expressway (天定高速) runs from Tianshui (天水) to Dingxi (定西) in Gansu,
and was only completed and opened on May 31st this year.
"Tianding Expressway must be the worst one in China. Despite the road surface subsidence, rat-holes-
like cavity dot the road," complained Zhang Jun, a lawyer in Northwest China's Gansu province on his
micro blog in July.
Heavy rain has saturated supportive slopes, causing the subsidence, said Tan Yingpeng, engineering
division chief of Gansu transport department.
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JE3oUUx-dk8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tianding is not the only expressway affected by the persistent rainfall, according to Tan. His statement
is supported by statistics released by Gansu transport department which says a number of other
national highways also suffered due to the heavy rain in Gansu province.
This is not the first time the 235-kilometer long Tianding Expressway has drawn public criticism for
subsidence. Not long after it opened to traffic in 2011, subsidence struck the poorly built highway and
drivers have called it "jelly-built" since.
Despite local authorities ordering an in-depth investigation into the cause of the subsidence following
public pressure, one year on, the results have still not been published.
Meanwhile, the Chinese internet is abuzz with criticisms on why repairs are again being awarded to the
same contractors who were initially tasked with building the road.
This is despite the fact that an average of 37 million RMB was spent for each kilometer of the Tianding
Expressway, when the usual cost is approximately 100 million RMB.
