The Desert Highway

The Desert Highway in Tarim Basin is the longest one of its kind in the world built in the shifting sand desert.Started in 1993 and finished in 1995,the highway links Lunnan Oilfield with No.315 National Highway in the south and Mingfeng with a length of 522 kilometers,of which 23-kilometer section is in the shifting sand desert.

 

The shifting sand desert highway,like a black dragon swimming in the desert sea,drifts up and down all the way in the desert.To control the sand from moving,an all way net project of blocking,stationing , draining, guiding, controlling the sand has been built.Reed bunches were fenced by 446 kilometers of nylon net supported by reed rods.The protection is between 20 to 100 meters wide.The sand protection fence is 1.3 meters high and 8 millimeters thick.The whole protection project is like a long lion chain which locks fastenly the moving sand dragon,another shining sight for the tourist.

The completion of the highway greatly promotes the oil development and plays a very important roll in promoting the local economy.At the same time,it provides a good transportation condition for all the tourists in Taklamakan Desert exploration tours.