PROGRESS ON THE T'IEN-SHUI -- CH'ENG-TU RAILWAY, OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1953

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700170099-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 99
• Publication Date: March 29, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/02 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700170099-3
1~~
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY China
SUBJECT Transportation - Rail, bridges
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE
PUBLISHED China
DATE
PUBLISHED 18 oct-I Dec 1953
LANGUAGE Chinese
x D rrbT a ... I x ?IIDDTIxa TIIO x? I .. ,
II rx[ a rtm snnifo Txlx Tet lluxlxa or nn[ n~ ftcn DxftT
?eo n?, xDI Txt u.f. coot. a ?aaom. .?xsll uslox o. rtrt~
L?TIaN 0I ITf CDxilx if T x[t[I.T f ?x Ux? x .1lta It.tDx If
D ?t?.. Tx[ .t..DDUCT!Ox ar r.I. ro.. I? ..D.I.Irro.
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
PROGRESS ON THE T'IEN-SHUI -- CH'ENG-TU RAILWAY, OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1953
[Comment: An article dated 18 October 1953 concerning the
T'ien--Ch'eng railway refers to the line between,T'ien-shui in
Kansu Province, and Ch'eng-tu, in Szechwan Province. Another
article, on 3 December 1953, on the same subjectti1s headed the
Pao--Ch'eng Railway, which means the line betwee, Pao-chi,
Shansi, and Ch'eng-tu, Szechwan. This apparent tbge of name
for the same line may indicate that the line frot~;Ch'eng-tu,
after reaching Lueh-yang in Shensi will be constructed north-
eastward to Pao-chi, instead of northwestward, by a more circui-
tous route, to T'ien-shui.
CONSTRUCTI^'I DIFFICULTIES ON T'IEN--CH'ENG RAILWAY -- Hong Kong, Wen-hui Pao,
18 Oct 53
Ch'eng-tu -- Construction on the T'ien-shui--Ch'eng-tu railway is now in
progress on the section in very rugged mountainous' terrain between Mien-yang
and Yen-men.
The veteran construction workers of the PLA engineers corps are encounter-
ing extremely difficult working conditions as they enter the area of the Ta-pa
Shan ranges. Frequently, they must hew out shelves for the roadbed on the
faces )f steep precipices of very hard rock, or drill tunnels working from sus-
pended platforms. Shifts are working around the clock. ,
STATE
ARMY
NAVY
AIR
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/02 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700170099-3
 ~~Ml Ml
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/02 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700170099-3
CONFIDENTIAL
_. ` Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/02 CIA-RDP80-00809A000700170099-3
CONFIDENTIAL
over the Shah-t'ing Chiang which has 17 s e one
nother
is that over the Lo Chiang. The largest of allnisithe4 one over thegfast
flowing Fou Chiang, which is over 300 meters wide. -- Lan Chu-chi
From Ch'ing-tu to Mien-yang it is 118 kilometers. This section of the
railway crosses numerous rivers and streams and required 109 small bridges,
16 medium sized bridges, and 6 large bridges. Among the latter i th
TRAINS OPERATE BETWEEN CH'ENG-TU AND MIEN-YANG -- Hong Kong, Wen-hui Pao,
19 Oct 1953
On 1 October 1953, the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the
government of the People's Republic of China, trains began regular operation
between Ch'eng-tu and Mien-yang. In this distance of about 117 kilometers,
t:iere have been built six large bridges and 299 medium and small bridges and
culverts. [See appended information on graphics material.]
PROGRESS ON PAO-CH'ENG RAILWAY -- Hong Kong, Ta Kung Pao, 3 Dec 53
Ch'eng-tu -- All bridges and culverts on the section of the Pao-chi -
Ch'eng-tu railway between Mien-yang and Chung-pa are finished and it is ex-
pected that by the end of 1953, trains will be running at least as far as
Chung-pa which is 40 kilometers beyond Mien-yang. The main ranges of the
Ta-pa Shan will then be encountered. In the 158 kilometers from Ch'eng-tu
to Chung-pait has been necessary to build 144 small bridges and 212 culverts.
There Is an average of 2.5 bridges or culverts per kilometer in this section.
With the cooperation of Soviet advisers, the foundations of ancient
bridges have been tested to ascertain their suitability for use as supports
for railway bridges. Where streams have a coarse gravel or cobblestone bottom,
the plan of using broad concrete footings, instead of driving piles, has been
adopted. While assuring satisfactory bridge foundations, this has saved 2,370
piles and 2 months in the time required for construction, in the section be-
tween Ch'eng-tu anC Mien-yang.
Using the Soviet method of rolling bridge trusses into position on the
piers, which was successfully employed on the Ch'eng-tu--Chungking line, in
the construction of the bridges across the Mien-yen He and the Lo-ch'ang
Chiang, the trusses were placed in position at the rate of 3.0 or 3.5 spans
per day. Local materials have been used as much as possible in the construc-
tion of 385 bridges and culverts. The only steel employed was the steel rein-
forcing rods used in concrete structures and the structural steel used in two
of the spans of the large bridge across the Fou Chiang. The traditional Chi-
nese method of building stone arches was followed for most of the culverts and
many of the smaller bridges. Some of these arches have spreads of from 10 to
20 meters.
PAO--CH'ENG LINE BEYOND CHUNG-PA -- Hong Kong, Ta Kung Pao, 4 Dec 53
Ch'eng-tu, 2-December (Hsin-hua She) -- Work has begun on the more than-
700 kilometer stretch of the Pao-chi--Ch'eng-tu Railway from Chung-pa to
Lueh-yang. Construction of the line in this mountainous section will be far
more difficult than for that section across the north Szechwan plain from
Ch'eng-tu to Chung-pa. From Chung-pa to Lueh-yang the line will cross many
bridges, pass through numerous tunnels, go around Chien-men-kuan, and traverse
the Ta-pa Sha:+ ranges, after which it will connect with the tracks south of
Pao-chi. [This seems to Indicate that the northern end of this railway beyond
Lueh-yang has been re-located to connect with the Lung-Hai Railway at Pao-chi
instead of at Tien-shui.]
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/02 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700170099-3
Several tens of thousands of laborers have been moved into barracks in
the forested mountain area north of Chung-pa. Various types of heavy-excavat-
ing '.nd grading machinery in large numbers are now being moves northward
across the recently completed Fou Chiang bridge. Excavn}3on of the Pa-miao-kou
tunnel is now being speeded up with the arrival. of mechanized equipment. Con-
struction was started very recently on a number of difficult engineering projects
such as the large bridges across the Pai-shut Ho, the Hui-lung-sha, and the
Ch'ing Ho.
GRAPHICS MATERIAL AVAILABLE
Requests for copies of, or further information on, the photo-
graph described herein should be address'd to Graphics Register,
CIA, by referring to report number and item number.
Location: China, Szechwan, Lo-chiang Hsien, city of Lo-chiang [104 31,
31 18]
Caption and Description: "The Lo Chiang Railway Bridge; and the First ?.
Train Bing Operated in the Ch'eng-tu--Mien-yang Section of the Pac-
chi--Ch'eng-tu Railway"
Source: Wen-hui Pao, Hong Kong, 19 October 1953, Page 1
Repository of Source Document: CIA
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/02 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700170099-3
50X1-HUM