The flood-damaged section of a key provincial highway in Yuzhong County, northwest China's Gansu Province, was reopened to traffic Sunday afternoon thanks to the emergency crew's busy repair operation around the clock over the past few days.
Torrential rain lashed Yuzhong County and other parts of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, on Thursday evening, triggering flash floods and mudslides that damaged local transport infrastructure. Among the hardest-hit areas was Mapo Township, where a section of Provincial Highway 104, a crucial rescue corridor, was severely damaged.
Before the flood, the time of driving on the 20-kilometer section from the county seat to the flood-stricken villages would take about 30 minutes. After the road section was severely damaged by the flood, drivers had to make a 70-km detour that would take nearly 100 minutes and that kept heavy rescue gear from getting through.
Over the past few days, the repair crew kept working on the stretch between Xinglongshan Pass and Maliantan Village, with excavators moving in sync, scraping away mud and rock, grading new shoulders, and dropping prefab steel culverts for instant bridges.
By 13:30 on Sunday, the highway section was reopened to traffic after restoration.
With the road section reopened, heavy gear and crews can now reach the hardest-hit areas, speeding rescue efforts.
Flood-damaged road in northwest China's Gansu reopened to traffic after restoration
Flood-damaged road in northwest China's Gansu reopened to traffic after restoration
Flood-damaged road in northwest China's Gansu reopened to traffic after restoration
