Opening ceremony for the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport Express Highway was held at the toll square along the Airport main line. Leaders present at the opening ceremony included Zhao Leji, secretary of provincial CPC Committee and director of Standing Committee of Provincial People's Congress; Yuan Chunqing, deputy secretary of provincial CPC Committee and governor of Shaanxi Province; Sun Qingyun, member of Standing Committee of Provincial CPC Committee and secretary of Xi¡¯an CPC Committee; Hong Feng, member of Standing Committee of Provincial CPC Committee and vice governor of Shaanxi Province; Wei Minzhou, member of Standing Committee of Provincial CPC Committee and secretary-general of Provincial CPC Committee; Yang Yongmao, deputy director of Standing Committee of Provincial People¡¯s Congress; Liu Xinwen, vice chairman of Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference; Huang Chengzhou, deputy commander of the provincial military region; Chen Baogen, deputy secretary of Xi'an CPC Committee and mayor of Xi'an; Qian Junchang, Xianyang CPC Committee; Cao Sen, director of Provincial Department of Transport; other leaders from related departments of Shaanxi Province and institutions of the central government stationed in Shaanxi, other leaders from Xi'an, Xianyang and counties along the highway and leaders from construction companies and people's representatives along the highway.

During the opening ceremony, Hu Baocun, deputy director of Provincial Department of Transport, introduced the construction situation of the project; Zhuang Changxing, mayor of Xianyang, Duan Xiannian, vice mayor of Xi'an made speeches; Hong Feng, member of Standing Committee of Provincial CPC Committee and vice governor of Shaanxi Province also delivered a speech. Secretary Zhao Leji and governor Yuan Chunqing, etc. cut the ribbons for the express highway.

Qin Zheng, secretary-general of Provincial Government, hosted the ceremony.

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport Express Highway Put into Use

A New Express Highway Added for the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport

On July 8th, Express Highway for Xi'an Xianyang International Airport was finished and put into use. This is one of the 18 highways planned by the Shaanxi Province and also a technology demonstration highway of the Ministry of Transport. As the First Highway toward Shaanxi Province, it is also an 8-lane express highway constructed with the highest standards, the most superb facilities and highest level of intelligent service in the western region. It is very meaningful for providing convenient transportation to the airport, promoting overall city planning of Xi'an, moving administrative center to the north, accelerating Xi'an-Xianyang economic integration, improving provincial highway network to form a comprehensive transportation network with highways, railways and airlines as the backbone, expanding the opening-up of Shaanxi and making it a powerful province in the western region.

This express highway sources from Zhuhong Road, main road of Xi'an expressway and Zhuhong Road interchange flyover at the cross of express highway around Xi'an city, and ends at the east entry of the airport. It passes the Xi'an Economic Development Zone, Hancheng Street Office of the Weiyang District, Zhengyang Town and Dizhang Town of the Weicheng District of Xianyang City. The total length of the road is 20.58 km. Main controlling stations are located along Caoyun Mingqu Channel, Zhengzhou-Xi'an Railway, Weihe River and Airport East Line.

The main line of the project adopted construction standards for 2-way 8-lane express highways. The speed limit is 120 km/h, the width of the subgrade is 45 m and tunnels under bridges are 42 m wide. Major figures of the project include 3.9 million m3 of subgrade, 435,38 m2 of asphalt road surface, a 6,911m-long bridge (twin-deck), 4 interchange flyovers, 5 split flyovers, 5 overpass bridge, 18 passages, 59 culverts, 2 aqueducts and 1 maintenance zone. The project was started in November of 2006 and finished in July of 2009.

The legal person of the project is Shaanxi Transportation Construction Group selected by Provincial Department of Transport; execution agency is Xi'an Xianyang International Airport Express Highway management division of the Construction Group; the highway was designed by Shaanxi Provincial Highway Survey and Design Institute; quality of construction was inspected by the Quality Supervision Division of Provincial Department of Transport; land use and resettlement work were arranged by Provincial Department of State Land and Resources. Construction and supervision were done by 40 units. The project was inspected by the Quality Supervision Division of Provincial Department of Transport and pass rate of key indices was 100%.

Required by the Provincial CPC Committee, Provincial Government and Provincial Department of Transport, Shaanxi Transportation Construction Group adhered to the management concept of planning in advance, strict management and implementation and pursuit of perfection. By scientific organization, bold innovations, design optimizations, and wide use of new technology, materials, equipment and processes, the Group spared no effort in building the First Highway toward Shaanxi Province and ensured the shocking effect of the highway.