Cracks and yaks put Himalayan railway at risk

[hedgetrimmer]

~snip~

Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Saturday July 29, 2006
The Guardian


The safety of passengers on the world's highest - and newest - railway is threatened by cracks, yaks and shifting sands, the Chinese government admitted yesterday.

Less than a month after the opening of the line across the Himalayas to Tibet, it has become unstable in places because the foundations are sinking into the permafrost, Chinese railway ministry spokesman Wang Yongping told the Beijing News yesterday.

Crossing the rugged Qinghai plateau and climbing to a peak of 5,072 metres (16,640ft) above sea level, the $4.2bn (£2.3bn) railway was hailed by president Hu Jintao as an engineering miracle. But it was always likely to be harder to maintain than to build.


The line depends on coolants to stop the ice upon which it rests from melting, but global warming has raised temperatures in the mountain region faster than expected. As well as damaging concrete pillars and bridges, this adds to the problem of sand dunes which encroach upon the track.

more... http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1832885,00.html

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Thank the great mystery this thing is f*cked... my wife was in Tibet seeing this thing built and woes were to befall the Tibetan people from the swarm of Chinese expected to populate that region... they have been blessed with more time.