The Duku Highway,deemed one of China's most beautiful roads, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is set to resume operation as road maintenance workers race to finish projects to ensure safe travel, including snow removal, identifying hazards, and repairing road damage.
Road maintenance workers have taken advantage of the recent sunny days, working around the clock to remove snow from a section of the Duku Highway, located at the boundary between the region's Xinyuan County and Jingxian County.
As road maintenance workers raced to remove thick snowbanks from the section starting Saturday. As of 13:00 Sunday, a huge amount of snow on the road section remained, with the highest snowbank being about 4.5 meters high, but workers on the operation site estimated it would only take around an hour to complete the removal.
Follow-up work including hazard identification, road damage repair, and debris removal should be completed before the highway resumes operation.
Meanwhile, road maintenance workers also strengthened guardrails on the highway and installed rockfall protection meshes on nearby cliffs.
Tunnels on the highway also required maintenance. Workers applied thermal insulation to tunnel walls and unclogged drains to ensure safe travel.
Xinjiang transport authorities said they would announce the highway's reopening date once road maintenance is completed on all sections.
The 560-kilometer Duku Highway closes each winter due to weather conditions. Typically, closure begins in October and lasts until June.
Xinjiang's scenic Duku Highway to resume operation after annual winter closure
Xinjiang's scenic Duku Highway to resume operation after annual winter closure
