Hangzhou leads in underground utility tunnels, with 29.44 kilometers of tunnel structures built to date. We discovered a very unique utility tunnel: it has civil defense functions and can withstand nuclear explosions.

　　This highly functional utility tunnel is called the Beitang Road Underground Utility Tunnel. It is located on Beitang Road in Hangzhou, starting from the north side of the Genshan Road tunnel in the south and extending to the Desheng Road utility tunnel in the north. Along the way, it passes beneath the Pengbu Beitang River and Baishi Port, with a total length of nearly 2 kilometers. In the future, its "residents" will include power, communication, water supply, and gas pipelines. It is the first utility tunnel in the province to successfully cross beneath a subway and the first in Hangzhou to also serve civil defense functions.

　　After the tunnel was completed, a Qianjiang Evening News reporter went inside to explore this remarkable utility tunnel.

　　The tunnel was constructed by Zhejiang Communications Construction Group under the Provincial Communications Group. The tunnel is buried 6-8 meters underground, and the concrete walls are thickened to 50 centimeters, 20 centimeters thicker than ordinary utility tunnels. According to engineers, this is not enough; steel plates are embedded in the concrete of the tunnel roof and walls, making it very solid. This is the special feature of a utility tunnel with civil defense functions.

　　The tunnel is divided into three compartments: the gas compartment, the power compartment, and the comprehensive compartment. The reporter entered the comprehensive compartment, which is very spacious with a clear height of 4.4 meters and a width of 2.5 meters, allowing people to walk inside without any problem. The comprehensive compartment will house communication and water supply pipelines, similar to those of China Mobile, China Unicom, and the water utility. The reporter counted a total of 15 rows of racks on both sides, meaning there are 15 iron boxes for wiring. The other two compartments are for gas pipelines and high-voltage power lines, respectively.

　　Standing inside the tunnel, one doesn't feel it, but the engineer from the construction group told us that this pipeline also crosses two subway lines, namely Line 1 and Line 4. Just 6 to 8 meters below the tunnel, subway trains speed by.