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[QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 22692, member: 2262"]
China Opens World's Longest Road Tunnel Through Mountains.

Workers finished digging China's biggest tunnel through mountains yesterday. The huge hole runs for 22 kilometers under the Tianshan peaks in Xinjiang.

The tunnel's name, "Shengli," means victory in Chinese. Cars will zoom through it at 100 kilometers per hour. The drive that once took hours will shrink to 20 minutes.

Four lanes let traffic flow both ways deep inside the mountain. The tunnel is about 3,000 meters above sea level.

Over 3,000 people worked hard for four years to dig this tunnel. The job proved tough. Workers faced thin air at high places. Rocks burst apart. Soft spots caved in. The ground kept shifting.

The builders beat their schedule. While most tunnels this big take six years to complete, these teams finished in just over four years.

The tunnel helps link two parts of Xinjiang. It connects Urumqi city in the north with Yuli County in the south. The full road should open next year.

People will save lots of time on trips. The drive between these places used to take seven hours. The new tunnel cuts that time down to three hours.

The project marks another big step for China's growing road system. It shows how the country keeps pushing ahead with huge building plans, even in remote places.
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