At 15:08 on April 16, as the last meter of rock was fractured, the left tube of the Ligoutian Tunnel on the Lixian Expressway in Hubei was successfully holed through.

"We are one step closer to the goal of basically completing the civil engineering works this year," said Project Manager Shan Fei, noting that the fifth contract section of the Lixian Expressway, constructed by the Road and Bridge Company of China Construction Railway Investment, is expected to complete its construction tasks ahead of schedule.

The left tube of the Ligoutian Tunnel has a total length of 1,366 meters and a maximum burial depth of about 399.6 meters. Since the start of construction, the builders of the Road and Bridge Company of China Construction Railway Investment have paid close attention to quality, safety and construction progress, focused on preventing and resolving major safety risks, prepared special construction plans in advance, strictly implemented the safety technical disclosure system, and continuously tightened safety responsibilities. To reduce the occurrence of safety accidents, the project department set up a night school for migrant workers and a VR safety experience center, using virtual scenarios to simulate emergencies in reality, transforming traditional safety education into safety experience, stimulating employees' interest in learning new technologies and knowledge of work safety, making workers more strongly aware of safety accidents, and further improving the level of safety management.

"This is the third tunnel holed through on the Lixian Expressway this year, and the fifth tunnel holed through since the project started last year," said Li Zongchang, deputy director of Hubei Jiaotou Exi Construction Company and head of the Lixian project division, noting that the Lixian project is racing on progress, comparing work styles and creating real achievements, and has fully entered the peak construction period.