1. Expressway Construction in China: A World Bank Perspective
Christopher R. Bennett
Sr. Transport Specialist
East Asia and Pacific Region

2. Presentation Outline Background to China’s Expressway Program
Building an Expressway in China: Seeing is believing… 2

3. China’s Road Investment Strategy
Creating a balanced network with capacity increase across the range of road classes
All villages connected to road grid by all-weather road
2010 Eastern and Central Provinces
2020 Western Provinces
All cities > 200,000 connected to expressway network 3

4. Road Development 4

5. Not Just Road Investments5

6. Expressway Network Development6

7. China’s Expressway Network7

8. China’s Expressway Investments Compared to USA and Japan8

9. Benefits 9

10. Sources of Financing
US$ 25 b 10

11. Tolls Very High 11

12. Financing Challenge
The next phase of the NEN construction will cost ~US$225 billion with heavy demand over the next 15 years
Need significant increase in maintenance funding
Western provinces face a funding gap.
Options:
Private equity
National toll financing system for redistributing income
Implemented fuel charges 12

13. Financing Capabilities13

14. Maintenance Funding 14

15. Overloading Major Problem
High toll rates and poor enforcement lead to overloading
60-91% overloaded in one survey (Anhui) 15

16. Traffic and Their Effects16

17. The Future
China will continue building some 5,000 km/year of expressways
Major investments will be made in rural roads to support the ‘Harmonious Society’ initiative
Major investments in road maintenance 17

18. Success Factors
Clear long-term development plans over five-year programs
Simultaneous implementation by each province and municipality
Pooling of national and provincial government resources
Most on new alignments
Many qualified construction firms and design engineers. 18

19. Building an Expressway in China

20. Construction Costs Very low by international standards
Typically US$2-2.5 million/km for subgrade and civil works
US$7 million/km for tunnels
Example – 2006 Jiangxi III highway project
117 km with 8.5 km of tunnels (max 3.2 km) and 19 km of bridges (longest > 1 km)
US$3.2 m/km for subgrade and civil works 20

21. Chinese Contractors Very efficient with resourcing of work
Rapid mobilization and completion
Heavy use of manual labor 21

22. Some Photos … 22

23. Retaining Walls Usually built using waste from tunnels
Employ local farmers for laborers 23

24. Viaducts
Use standard designs
Casting on site 24

25. Launching of Beam 25

26. More Viaducts… 26

27. More Viaducts … 27

28. More Viaducts … 28

29. Digging Foundations – By Hand29

30. Tunnels
Tunneling machines are not used 30

31. At the Tunnel Face 31

32. Issues Design Construction Supervision
Very mechanical approach to designs
Usually do not show innovation
Safety often an afterthought
Construction
Try to build too quickly
Poor quality control
Supervision
Supervision consultants not assertive enough 32

33. Examples of Problems … Safety equipment in wrong location
Improper designs
Missing safety equipment 33

34. More Problems …
Bad Co-ordination Between Designers (and poor supervision)
Designs not changed to reflect actual site conditions
Improper borrow area 34

35. Improper Interchange Design
Expressway Entrance
Expressway Exit Ramp
Correct
As Built 35

36. The Future
By 2020 China will have the largest expressway network in the world
This will enhance China’s economy by significantly lowering transport and logistics costs
As expressways are built in more challenging areas, China will develop innovative techniques
The next challenge will be maintenance … but that is another story 36