Three passageways that will all be broken through by sometime in September will comprise what is now named the Shijing Mt Tunnel to avoid confusion with the Banzhang Mt Tunnel between Gongbei and Ningxi. Nearby Shijing Mt is part of Jingshan Park in Jida.

The Shijing Mt Tunnel will be a key link in Xingye Express Road leading to both the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor sea channel.

The final 1.78 km (1.1 miles) being excavated will have a dual-tunnel six-lanes, while the 921-m (1,007-yd) ramp will have two lanes, according to an executive of builder China Railway Number 2 Engineering Group.

So far, 27,000 cubic meters of soil and rock out of an anticipated 30,000 have been evacuated for the open-cut section on the south side of the tunnel, and side slope protection has been roughly completed. Work on a large pipe shed is currently underway.

Construction site

The 4.77-km (2.96-mile) south section of Xingye Express Road starts from the Jiuzhou Avenue-First Jianye Road intersection, bridges Bailian Road, and cuts through Banzhang Mt. It will then stretch beneath First Xiangning Street, Huwan, Xingye, Ningxi, Renmin, and Yinhua roads before converging with the north section.

A pair of offset ramps will be set at the south and north sides of Ningxi Road, and entrance-exit ramps at the south side of Meihua Road. An east-west tunnel will be drilled through beneath East Renmin Road to pass under Xingye Road.

Red lines show Xingye Express Road north and south sections

Cross-section of dual tunnel [Photos by Cheng Lin / Zhuhai Daily]