Twin-bore Excavation of Hubei’s Longest In-progress Highway Tunnel Surpasses 10,000 Metres

According to China News Service and China Communications News reports, Fozhaoshan Tunnel, the longest highway tunnel currently under construction across Hubei Province funded and developed by Hubei Communications Investment Group, has seen its combined twin-bore excavation length break the 10,000-metre milestone in recent days. 

The milestone marks a decisive leap forward for the whole project and accelerates the delivery of a vital transport artery cutting through mountainous western Hubei from planning drawings to physical reality.

Situated within Zigui County, Yichang City, the tunnel forms a core segment of the Xingshang stretch of the Fangxian-Wufeng Expressway. Its full overall length hits 10.4 kilometres, with the left tunnel stretch measuring 10,423 metres and the right bore running 10,395 metres. 

The tunnel’s maximum overburden depth reaches roughly 1,290 metres, and the geological strata along its route present formidable construction hurdles. Grade IV and Grade V surrounding rock account for a dominant share of the tunnel alignment, exposing crews to recurrent geohazards including mud surges, underground water inflows, karst cavities, large soft rock deformation, high in-situ stress and fractured fault zones. It ranks among the most technically demanding and schedule-critical works along the entire expressway route.

Since groundworks got underway, construction teams have maintained rigorous safety management regimes and fully enforced layered accountability for site safety. Site teams run regular advanced geological forecasting, surrounding rock monitoring and measuring, and working face sketch surveys to accurately map subsurface conditions and pre-empt potential construction risks well in advance. 

The site delivery framework embraces a core operational philosophy that prioritises mechanisation to cut manual labour, automation to lower on-site headcount, and intelligent systems to minimise direct human exposure to hazardous zones. Heavy-duty twin-boom rock drilling rigs and other mechanised construction hardware have been deployed across the site, alongside an integrated intelligent safety control platform. The platform draws on real-time staff positioning equipment and toxic gas monitoring sensors to deliver dynamic, closed-loop oversight covering every stage of tunnelling activity.

Once fully completed, the thoroughfare will create seamless road links connecting multiple national 5A-level tourist attractions, including Shennongjia Forestry District, the Three Gorges Dam, Qu Yuan’s Hometown Cultural Tourism Zone and Qingjiang Gallery. The interconnected network will deliver a fast-access, leisurely travel framework for regional tourism across western Hubei. 

The upgraded transport links will reinforce implementation of national strategies for the Rise of the Central Region and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, strengthen intercity transport connections between the Yichang-Jingzhou-Jingmen Metropolitan Area and Xiangyang Metropolitan Area, and supply robust infrastructure backing for Yichang’s development as a regional central city serving the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Ongoing upgrades to Hubei’s provincial expressway grid will further amplify the project’s regional value upon opening. Additional high-speed road links now under development will streamline cross-city passenger and freight movement across central China’s mountainous terrain, cutting journey times for local residents and tourism operators alike. The intelligent tunnelling techniques trialled at Fozhaoshan Tunnel will also serve as replicable technical benchmarks for future mountain tunnel schemes rolling out across central inland provinces in the coming years.