On March 16, good news came again from the Phase I, Step 2 project of the North Main Canal of the Xiangjiaba Irrigation District — the upstream side of the Leikouyan Tunnel was successfully holed through, marking a phased breakthrough in the project's construction.

The Phase I project of the North Main Canal of the Xiangjiaba Irrigation District is one of the 172 major water conservancy projects designated by the State Council, and is also an important component of Sichuan's backbone water network. The Phase I, Step 2 project involves 4 cities and 7 counties (districts) in the Southern Sichuan Economic Zone, with a designed irrigation area of 1.473 million mu and a water supply population of 1.14 million. The Leikouyan Tunnel, with a total length of 2,962 meters, is a control project of the Phase I, Step 2 project of the North Main Canal of the Xiangjiaba Irrigation District. The upstream section of the tunnel holed through this time is 842 meters long, and its geological conditions are extremely complex; the strata it passes through are mainly soft rocks such as sandstone and silty mudstone, which are characterized by poor cementation, low strength, and easy softening and slaking upon contact with water, making construction highly difficult.

Since construction of the upstream side of the Leikouyan Tunnel began on July 12, 2024, the Xiangjiaba Project Department of Sinohydro Bureau 14 has taken the initiative, clarified its approach in advance, and refined its task objectives. It adopted a series of effective measures such as technology first, shifting the focus of management forward, the "first-piece system" model guidance, and dynamic optimization of construction plans, overcoming many difficulties including delayed provision of construction land, complex tunnel geological conditions, and poor rock stability, and ultimately completing the holing-through task ahead of schedule.