In other countries tunnels are made. China cuts mountains in half

Cheaper, safer, more sustainable. The real challenge is not to tear the mountain space to pass the road, but stabilize its walls to avoid collapse in the future.

Most countries continue to rely on the construction of tunnels to cross mountainous formations.

China adopted a much more radical solution: Mountains in two to facilitate the development of new communication pathways.

This method, which might seem proper to Hollywood’s science fiction overproduction, is increasingly used in regions where underground perforation is unfeasible or too expensive.

The process, which combines geological accuracy and machinery of great power, allows to open corridors through complex rock formations and shorten routes that It took hours.

The walls that are after the cut, up to 200 meters high, are stabilized with concrete, metal meshes and sophisticated drainage systems.

The use of this technique was generalized in provinces such as Guizhou, Yunnan or Sichuan, where geological conditions They make it difficult to build traditional tunnels, says the.

In these cases, cutting the mountain directly is not only more economical, but also safer, and facilitates the traffic of heavy vehicles in an economy strongly based on land transport.

Before starting the cut, the engineers perform a thorough study of the composition of the land. From this analysis, controlled explosives are placed at strategic points to generate initial fractures.

Subsequently, it is used Large Porte Machinery to remove the huge volumes of rock extracted from the mountain. These machines can advance Dozens of meters per day.

Once the passage is unimpeded, the vertical walls with structures designed to resist extreme weather conditions and avoid landslides.

This solution allows save long -term costsas it requires no complex ventilation systems or lighting, as in tunnels.

Among the most representative projects of this approach are the autoestrada Guiyang-Qianxi And several sections of the high -speed train that joins Beijing to Guangzhou, where this technique also applied to significantly reduce the times of the route.

Choosing to cut the mountain instead of drilling responds to a technical and economic logic. On land with high presence of groundwater or unstable formations, the tunnel Not only does it suppose a higher riskas well as a substantial increase in Project cost.

Also, maintaining an open passage results much simpler than a tunnel, since does not require electric infrastructure nor permanent evacuation systems. This converts it to an ideal alternative for low altitude zones where goods traffic is constant and bulky.

Although it may seem an extreme solution, its use allows us to completely transform connectivity between mountainous regions – and streamline economic development into traditionally isolated regions.