Green corridor runs parallel to China's first desert expressway

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 ◆ Green corridor runs parallel to China's first desert expressway

The makers of China's first desert expressway in the country's northwest Shaanxi province are also creating a parallel corridor - not with sand, stone and asphalt but with trees and grass.

The green corridor is serving as a barrier to ward off sand encroaching from the desert the 116-kilometer expressway runs through.

Over 60 percent of the expressway between Yulin and Jingbian, two northern cities in the province, lies in the Muus Desert, which mainly covers parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shaanxi province.

The making of a green corridor was put to the top of the agenda at the start of road construction, as work was interrupted by invading sand as soon as the project was launched in July 2000. Some sections of the roadbed were buried by sand which quickly piled up to two meters deep in some places.

Xue Fagao, a local official in charge of construction, said the government had invested 40 million yuan (4.8 million US dollars) in the green corridor, over two percent of total investment in the expressway.

Now the green belt, two kilometers wide on both sides of the expressway, has taken shape. By the end of July, 250,000 trees had been planted across a total area of over 5,000 hectares.

Road builders expect to complete the expressway in September next year. They said the dunes along the expressway would be wholly under control by then.