New Nanning-Zhanjiang link starts with labor competition

A labor competition for the Guangdong section of the Nanning-Zhanjiang Expressway was held in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, on Wednesday, marking the project's entry into its full construction phase.

At the construction site in Lianjiang, a county-level city in Zhanjiang, 190 large machines performed tasks such as site clearing, soft foundation replacement, construction of access roads, production of precast beams and culvert structure casting.

Since the start of the first pile foundation construction in December, the construction of the Guangdong section of the expressway has been accelerating. More than 80 percent of the necessary land has been acquired.

The expressway's Guangdong section, approximately 30 kilometers long, will be built as a dual four-lane highway with a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour, according to Guangdong Transportation Group.

The project, which starts at Changshan township in Lianjiang, serves as another vital connection between Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"With the construction of the Guangdong section of the Nanning-Zhanjiang Expressway, the network of interprovincial corridors between Guangdong and Guangxi will be further expanded," said Lai Feng, director of the Nanning-Zhanjiang Expressway Management Office.

Currently, nine interprovince expressways have been completed between Guangdong and Guangxi. The new one will significantly reduce travel time between Nanning, Guangxi, and Zhanjiang from three and half hours to less than three hours, Lai said.

After completion of the project in 2028, the eastern region of Guangxi and areas along the route will be able to quickly access the comprehensive transportation hubs of western Guangdong, including high-speed rail, airports and seaports.

"To complete the construction tasks with high quality and efficiency, we are integrating technological innovation throughout the entire construction process," Lai said, adding that the project uses intelligent methods to tackle challenges such as tight schedules and complex terrain.