See how China built a highway more than 150km through the desert despite the sandstorm

Despite the summer desert temperatures that can reach 70 degrees Celsius, China is continuing to build a mega project, the highway through Taklimakan, the largest desert in the country.

China is building a highway over 150km long through the Taklimakan Desert in the northwest Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

The road runs along the western part of Tha Mat district, connecting the town of Tazhong in the middle of the desert with the national highway G315 in the south. Billed as a megaproject, the new road is expected to become a branch of the Lunmin desert highway.

1,000km long and 400km wide, Taklimakan is the world's second largest shifting sand desert. 85% of deserts are made up of shifting sand dunes. Therefore, building a highway in such a desert is a huge challenge.

 Sandstorms and temperature differences make construction difficult

The large temperature difference, adverse weather makes the work complicated. In summer, the highest temperature in the region can reach 70 degrees Celsius. Mr. Li Panfeng, the project's chief engineer, said that the biggest challenge is still working under strong sandstorms, especially in October. April and May every year.

To prevent sand from covering the road, engineers planted trees along the roadside to help fix the sand layer. They also built a giant irrigation system, pumping water from the ground to irrigate the plants. There is a maintenance station every 4km along the route. The construction of the project started from February 26, 2022, is expected to be completed in October 2023.

 This is a challenging project to build across China's largest desert.