Recently, Zhengzhou was officially approved as a national pilot city for underground utility tunnels. On the 22nd, the Zhengzhou Municipal Planning Bureau held a special press briefing, publicly announcing for the first time the 8 underground utility tunnel pilot projects. These 8 projects will start construction this year, be completed next year, and go into operation the year after.

　　8 Underground Utility Tunnel Pilot Projects

　　● Erqi Commercial District Project

　　● Citizen Public Cultural Service Area South District Project

　　● Jinshui Science and Education Park Project

　　● Erqi Mazhai New Town Area Project

　　● Huiji Huayuankou Cluster Project

　　● Zhengdong New District Baisha Cluster Project

　　● Airport Economy Zone Convention and Exhibition High-speed Railway Business District Project

　　● Airport Economy Zone Garden Expo Park Area Project

　　Announcement

　　8 tunnel projects to be built this year, operational the year after

　　Recently, Zhengzhou became one of the 15 national pilot cities for underground utility tunnels in 2016, along with Guangzhou, Shijiazhuang, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Hefei, and others.

　　According to regulations, the state will provide special funding subsidies to pilot cities for underground utility tunnels. The specific subsidy amount is determined by city scale: 500 million yuan per year for municipalities directly under the central government, 400 million yuan per year for provincial capitals, and 300 million yuan per year for other cities.

　　A responsible person from the Municipal Planning Bureau introduced that this year the city will build 8 tunnel projects with a total length of about 44.1 kilometers and a total investment of about 5.951 billion yuan, at a cost of nearly 135 million yuan per kilometer. They are expected to be completed next year and put into operation the year after.

　　After meeting the corresponding conditions, the state will allocate 400 million yuan in subsidy funds to the city each year. For those adopting the PPP model reaching a certain proportion, a 10% reward will be given based on the above subsidy base.

　　Planning

　　Before 2020, build over 200 kilometers of underground utility tunnels

　　According to the plan, by 2020, the city will plan and build 214.3 kilometers of underground utility tunnels. Among them, 58.6 kilometers will be built in 2016 (including 44.1 kilometers of pilot projects).

　　The long-term plan up to 2030 is to build 575.5 kilometers of utility tunnels.

　　A responsible person from the Municipal Planning Bureau introduced that in the near future, Zhengzhou will combine underground space development, road pipeline renovation, and new area construction to build comprehensive utility tunnel demonstration areas and achieve the construction goals.

　　In the long term, from point to area and connecting into a network, a comprehensive utility tunnel backbone network will be formed to comprehensively promote urban underground utility tunnel construction, improve municipal infrastructure, and enhance urban quality.

　　Progress

　　The 8 pilot projects starting this year total about 44.1 kilometers

　　This year, the city will start construction of 8 underground utility tunnel pilot projects with a total length of about 44.1 kilometers and a total investment of about 5.95 billion yuan. The 8 pilot projects are divided into three categories: old city renovation, village merging into city, and new area construction.

　　Old city renovation: Erqi Commercial District Project and Citizen Public Cultural Service Area South District Project.

　　Village merging into city: Jinshui Science and Education Park Project, Erqi Mazhai New Town Area Project, and Huiji Huayuankou Cluster Project.

　　New area construction: Zhengdong New District Baisha Cluster Project, Airport Economy Zone Convention and Exhibition High-speed Railway Business District Project, and Airport Economy Zone Garden Expo Park Area Project.

　　The 6 projects in the village merging into city and new area construction categories are single-layer underground utility tunnels; the 2 old city renovation projects are divided into two layers, with the underground first layer as the utility tunnel layer and the above-ground second layer also featuring commercial development.

　　Currently, these 8 pilot projects have received preliminary design approval and are ready for construction.

　　Two of the 4 projects under construction have completed main works

　　Currently, the city has 4 underground utility tunnel projects under construction, of which two have completed the main works.

　　The Zhengdong New District CBD Sub-center Utility Tunnel Project adopts integrated underground space development and frame structure integrated construction; the 3.2-kilometer main works have been completed.

　　As Henan Province's first utility tunnel, the Economic Development Zone Binhe International New City Utility Tunnel Project is built using the PPP model; the 2.2-kilometer first-phase main works have been completed.

　　The Central Ring Corridor Project in the north district of Zhengzhou Citizen Cultural Service Center is a project integrating utility tunnels, traffic ring corridors, and underground space development. Currently, the two-kilometer ring corridor section is under construction.

　　The Airport Economy Zone Shuanghe Lake Area Utility Tunnel Project is the city's longest utility tunnel project, with a total length of 6.1 kilometers, and is currently under construction.

　　In addition, Zhengzhou has planned and reserved 20 locations for main roads crossing the South-to-North Water Diversion utility tunnels. Among them, the Zhenggang Third Road crossing the South-to-North Water Diversion utility tunnel in the Airport Economy Zone has been completed and put into operation.

　　Pilot

　　Which is the most "high-end"? Citizen Cultural Service Center Central Ring Corridor

　　Among many projects, the Central Ring Corridor Tunnel Project in the core area of the Citizen Public Cultural Service Area is the most "high-end," with three layers above and below ground, and is Zhengzhou's first underground ring corridor project.

　　The Central Ring Corridor is enclosed by Citizens Avenue, Leshan Road, Xingguo Road, and Tuqiang Road (Citizens Avenue and Xingguo Road have separate traffic tunnels). The main passage is about 1,989 meters long. The average burial depth of the ring corridor is 17 meters, with the deepest part about 21 meters, equivalent to a 7-story building.

　　The ring corridor is divided into three layers: upper, middle, and lower. The upper layer is the vehicular traffic layer (tunnel layer), the middle is an interlayer, and the lower is the utility tunnel layer. The utility tunnel layer is at the bottom, about 2.5 meters high, with 4 independent compartments for cables and optical fibers, rainwater and sewage, heating, and gas in different compartments. The middle interlayer, also called the maintenance layer, is about 2.5 meters high and mainly serves for ventilation and material feeding during pipeline maintenance.

　　The design life of the Central Ring Corridor Tunnel Project is 100 years, with a planned construction period of two years.