Construction of a new railway tunnel in Pingtan of the Fujian province has made further progress, Pingtan Times reported on Feb 27.

Workers busy with construction of the entrance of a railway tunnel in Suao town, Pingtan County, Fujian province, Feb 25. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

The entrance of the tunnel is in the town of Su’ao and has a basic structure. As of February workers have poured about 250 cubic meters, or one-fifth of concrete around the area. According to Shi Changkang, an engineering supervisor, the rest will be applied as the engineering work proceeds in the next month and a half,.

The Su’ao tunnel is the only tunnel that the Pingtan-Fuzhou High-speed Rail will go through on the Haitan Island. It will stretch 1,861 meters for the double-track rails with a designated speed of 200 km per hour.

The construction of the tunnel kicked off in April of last year, and as of February, workers have only managed to excavate about 65 meters because of complicated geographic conditions. The team plans to advance some 1,000 meters this year as the internal segments are much easier to dig, said Shi.

The newspaper also reported a story on a father-son duo at the construction site who didn’t get to return home to Chongqing for Spring Festival holiday.

“I am normally doing the excavation work while my father is responsible for removal of the formwork,” said Yu Chuanjiang.

“During the Spring Festival, the excavation is suspended as the major task is to demolish the formwork at the entrance. The team is really shorthanded so I decided to stay with my father for the work,” he said.

“I’ve spent the Spring Festival at construction sites outside my hometown before. But it is the first time that my son joined me,” said Yu Yunchao.

Yu Chunchao (R) and his son are workers at the construction site of a railway tunnel in Pingtan, Fujian province, Feb 25. [Photo/ptnet.cn]