On February 18, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lishui section of the Yiwu-Longquan-Qingyuan Expressway project was held in Songyang County, Lishui City, marking another investment milestone for major transportation projects in Zhejiang. The mountainous region of southwestern Zhejiang will gain another major corridor, further densifying the road network in mountainous areas.

　　The Yiwu-Longquan-Qingyuan Expressway has a total length of approximately 198 kilometers and a total investment of about 54.8 billion yuan. It starts in Yiwu, Jinhua, passes through Yongkang, Wuyi, Suichang, and Songyang, and ends in Longquan City, with a design speed of 100 km/h. It is being built in two sections: the Jinhua section and the Lishui section. Once the entire line is completed, it will further strengthen rapid connections between the most beautiful core area of the Grand Garden and the Yiwu-Ningbo-Zhoushan Open Corridor, as well as the Jinhua-Yiwu and Hangzhou metropolitan areas. The drive between Yiwu and Lishui will be reduced by about one hour, which is of great significance for driving economic development in Suichang, Songyang, Longquan, and surrounding areas, enhancing the function of the comprehensive transportation corridor linking Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, and improving the overall service level of the road network.

　　The Lishui section of the Yiwu-Longquan-Qingyuan Expressway, which broke ground this time, is a key construction project of the "Six Vertical and Six Horizontal" main framework in the "14th Five-Year Plan" for Comprehensive Transportation Development of Zhejiang Province. It starts at the Niutoushan Tunnel at the border of Jinhua and Lishui, passes through Suichang, Songyang, and Longquan, which are among the 26 mountainous counties in Zhejiang Province, and ends at the Shangyu interchange of the Longli Expressway, connecting to the G25 Lilongqing Expressway. The project adopts the technical standard of two-way four lanes, with a main line of about 93 kilometers and an approved estimated total investment of about 21.6 billion yuan. It is scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic in 2028. The project includes a total of 58 bridges and 14.5 tunnels, with 9 interchanges and 2 service areas.

　　It is worth noting that the approximately 50-kilometer section from the entrance of the Yecun Tunnel to the exit of the Daqiutian Tunnel contains 9 tunnels, with a total tunnel length of 41.45 kilometers, accounting for 83%. This makes it the expressway with the highest proportion of extra-long highway tunnel groups and the longest continuous super-long tunnel group in China. At the same time, the terrain along the project is highly undulating, the geological structure is complex, and adverse geological conditions such as landslides and collapses exist, making construction difficult. "To accelerate project construction, we planned and implemented a series of measures in advance, completing the project's civil engineering and supervision bidding and contract signing ahead of schedule, and achieving the goal of starting construction on the first working day of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon," introduced Zhang Zhongyong, Executive Deputy Commander of the Yiwu-Longquan-Qingyuan Lishui Section Command of Zhejiang Communications Group.