Recently, the Ministry of Transport officially released the "Technical Specifications for Design and Construction of Highway Karst Tunnels" (hereinafter referred to as the "Specifications"), edited under the leadership of Guangxi Communications Design Group. These specifications will serve as recommended industry standards for highway engineering and will take effect on October 1, 2024.

The "Specifications" are China's first highway engineering industry standard edited under the leadership of an enterprise unit in Guangxi's transportation system. They are highly professional and broad in coverage, representing a summary of experience in addressing sudden major geological disasters in tunnel construction in karst regions, and can provide an important basis for highway karst tunnel construction in most parts of South China, Central South China, and Southwest China.

It is reported that the drafting group of the "Specifications" was composed of experts and scholars with extensive experience in karst tunnel engineering from Guangxi Communications Design Group and other units. Based on the technical needs of highway karst tunnel design and construction in China, the drafting group conducted surveys across extensive karst regions including Guangxi, Guizhou, and Chongqing, and completed survey reports and special research reports on topics such as advanced geological forecasting and disaster warning technology research during the survey and construction stages of highway tunnels in karst areas, surrounding rock classification methods for highway karst tunnels, and calculation methods for rockfall impact force.

By organizing the survey results, the drafting group creatively summarized highly distinctive construction concepts, including a surrounding rock classification method based on karst influence coefficients, a karst water treatment and waterproofing/drainage design concept of "drainage as the priority," and a whole-process risk management concept for karst tunnels. These have important practical significance for reducing construction safety risks and improving construction quality in highway karst tunnels.