The Aoshan Road to Gaodian No.2 Road section project is the last section of the Ring Island Road construction. The reporter learned from Xiamen Road and Bridge Construction Group that the key control project of this section - the tunnel underpassing the Fuzhou-Xiamen Railway (island access) - has been officially completed and is expected to be open to traffic in the fourth quarter of next year. At that time, the current "C"-shaped Ring Island Road will become an "O" shape, achieving a complete "closed loop".
　　The project intersects with 13 tracks of the railway (high-speed rail line) and passes through by means of an underpass tunnel, with a tunnel length of about 1 kilometer. "In addition, the tunnel also crosses under three roads - Jiahe Road, Haitai Road, and Zhongpu Road - and three water supply pipes. The closest distance between the tunnel edge and Xiamen Rail Transit Line 1 is only 1 meter, making construction conditions complex and difficult." introduced the on-site project manager of Xiamen Road and Bridge Construction Group.
　　The reporter learned that the tunnel was excavated from both ends by two construction units. Among them, the excavation at the Xinglin Bridge end of the tunnel exit started in December 2014. Due to difficulties in construction planning across the railway section, poor engineering geology of the bay mudflats, and other factors, construction was slow and difficult. The construction unit continued to invest a large amount of manpower and material resources to actively challenge various problems.
　　Through the unremitting efforts of all participating parties, yesterday, the tunnel was safely and smoothly completed, laying a good foundation for the entire Aoshan Road to Gaodian No.2 Road section to be completed and open to traffic in the fourth quarter of next year. Xiamen Road and Bridge Construction Group introduced that after the completion of this section, it can connect the Jimei Bridge bridgehead to Chang'an Road and towards Dongdu, making the entire Ring Island Road fully connected and closed, further improving the road network structure of Xiamen City, alleviating the traffic pressure on surrounding roads, and improving the operational efficiency of the road network on Xiamen Island.
　　Project Profile
　　The Aoshan Road to Gaodian No.2 Road section has a total length of 2.73 kilometers, constructed according to the standard of an urban expressway, with a design driving speed of 60 km/h and a road width of 50 meters. The project starts from Aoshan Road in the east, extends southwest after crossing Aoshan Road via a box girder bridge, and passes under Jiahe Road, Fuzhou-Xiamen Railway, etc. via a tunnel, ending at Gaodian No.2 Road. At the end of the road, a ramp will also be set up to connect with Xinglin Bridge, forming a three-dimensional traffic conversion.
　　Background Information
　　The construction of Xiamen Ring Island Road began in the late 1990s, with the initial section from Baicheng to Huangcuo. In the following nearly 20 years, the Ring Island Road successively completed the Huangcuo to Qianpu section, the Convention and Exhibition Center to Xiangshan section, the Xiangshan to Wutong section, and the Wutong to Gaoqi Airport section. The currently under-construction Aoshan Road to Gaodian No.2 Road section is the last section. After completion, it will connect with Chang'an Road, then reach Dongdu Road and Lujiang Road, and then directly reach the Baicheng section of Ring Island Road via Yanyu Bridge, forming a complete "O"-shaped ring road.