How did experts build a railway in the 'deadly' desert using 2 tons of paper to create blueprints?

Designing and building a railway across the world's second largest shifting sand desert is no small challenge for experts.

The Taklamakan Desert is located in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. Spanning approximately 330,000 square kilometers, the Taklamakan is the second largest shifting sand desert in the world. The desert features shifting sand dunes that are tens to hundreds of meters high.

Despite the complex terrain, there is a special railway line called Hotan-Ruoqiang that is built through the Taklamakan Desert. According to Mr. Yang Baorong, chief designer of the Hotan-Ruoqiang railway: "The length of this railway line is 825km. We used nearly 2 tons of drawing paper to make the design map ".

Some 1,300 years after the Tang monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage, the only railway that circumnavigates the desert in China was built here.

The Taklamakan is the second largest shifting sand desert in the world. (Photo: Shutterstock).

The Taklamakan Desert is considered an important stop along the ancient Silk Road. However, building a railway line in this desert is not easy.

Accordingly, water is essential to build the foundation layer of such a railway. But the water source is 130km away from the construction site. Moreover, when spread in the desert, water will quickly be absorbed by the sand. Therefore, building a railway here is almost impossible.

So why does China want to build a railway in a harsh desert like the Taklamakan?

In fact, for seven months from March to August every year, flights are canceled and highways are closed due to sandstorms. People living in the southern part of the Taklamakan Desert are virtually isolated from the outside world. Therefore, in this harsh natural environment, railways are the only stable mode of transportation.

The challenges of building railways in the desert

However, to build a railway, a solid foundation is needed. So, how does a solid foundation built on shifting sand desert work?

According to experts, sand in the desert is very soft, making it difficult to build. "The simplest way is to make soft sand stronger," said Wang Jinzhong, who is in charge of the construction of the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway.

Engineers found that when a sand base with a water content of 12-16% is continuously rolled over by a roller, a solid layer of soil will be formed. Then, engineers need to spread a mesh frame over the base at a distance of 60 cm for reinforcement. This process will be repeated several times.

To build an 825km railway line across the Taklamakan Desert, experts had to overcome many difficulties. (Photo: Globaltimes)

When the surface of the subgrade can withstand a pressure of 150 kPa per meter, it will be strong enough for trains to pass through. However, engineers still face many challenges. Because 65% of the 825km railway is located in a windy and sandy area, where sand dunes move at an average speed of 20m per year.

Therefore, to prevent the risk of quicksand, 5 elevated bridges (49.7 km long) from 15 to 30 m were built in places with the strongest winds. In this way, shifting sand under the railway will not affect train operations.

In addition, experts also used 50 million square meters of grass nets and planted about 13 million desert-resistant trees to protect the railway.

The Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway began operation on June 16, 2022. The line starts from Hotan City (in the southwest) and ends in Ruoqiang County (in the southeast of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region). Traveling at a speed of 120 km/h and passing through 22 stations, the travel time from Hotan to Ruoqiang takes about 11 hours and 26 minutes.

The construction of the Hoa Dien – Nhuoc Khuong railway promises to bring uninterrupted access to transportation to the people living in this desert, while facilitating the transport of goods and the development of the areas where the railway passes through…