Xi'an Metro Line wins top civil engineering award

Xi'an Metro Line 4 in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, has recently won the 19th Tien-yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize – the nation's top innovation and technology award for construction projects. This is the first rail transit project in Northwest China to win the prize.

Xi'an Metro Line 4 wins the 19th Tien-yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

As a main north-south line, Xi'an Metro Line 4 connects with large-scale comprehensive transportation hubs such as the Xi'an Railway Station.

The line has 29 underground stations, a total length of 35.2 kilometers and a total investment of 23.82 billion yuan ($3.74 billion).

The line passes by Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Xi'an City Wall, Daming Palace, and five national cultural relics including Great Ci'en Temple and Dong Zhongshu's Tomb.

The Tang Paradise Station of Xi'an Metro Line 4 [Photo/Xi'an news network]

In order to protect these cultural relics, Xi'an Rail Transmit Group Company proposed for the first time harmonious development concepts between metro projects and cultural relics, and developed key technologies for the vibration control of ancient buildings.

Thus, metro stations will be located nearby cultural relics but not directly pass through them.

The metro line also pioneered the key technology of metro crossing large thickness collapsible loess, saving 150 million yuan in project costs and serving as a model for similar projects such as high-speed rail and highway tunnels.

The Fengtian Road Station of Xi'an Metro Line 4 [Photo/Xi'an news network]