INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM CHINESE ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN NORTHERN LAOS.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030004-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 17, 2011
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: January 1, 1970
• Content Type: IM

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Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Memorandum
Chinese Road Construction In Northern Laos
_
-"secrct-
ER IM 70-4
January 1970
Copy No.
55
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WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national
defense of the United States, within the meaning of Title
18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code, as amended.
Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GROUP I
EMClud.d Imm automatic
downgrading and
d~clauifcolinn _
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
January 1970
Chinese Road Construction
In Northern Laos
Introduction
With the beginning of the dry season in September
1969, the Chinese renewed their road construction
activities in northern Laos. Branch roads currently
are being extended off an all-weather route completed
in early 1969 between Yunnan Province and the village
of Muong Sai, some 50 miles inside Laos. Government
leaders in Laos and Thailand are most concerned with
the branch road that is being constructed at a rapid
pace in the direction of a Mekong River village
less than 20 miles from the Thai border. This
memorandum details the progress being made on this
road and on other road construction in northern
Laos.
The Ban Batene - Muong Sai Road
1. In early 1968, the Chinese made preparations
for road construction in northern Laos by improving
roads running to the border and by erecting large
numbers of support buildings in China. They also
made the major trails around Ban Batene motorable
(see Figure 1). These preparations were the begin-
nings of a new round of Chinese roadbuilding activity
in Laos since a road was constructed in 1963-64
Note: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA.
It was prepared by the Office of Economic Research
and was coordinated with the Office of Current
Intelligence and the Office of Strategic Research.
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Figure 1 25X1
New Road Alignment on the Route to the Mekong
Contested territory
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between Meng La, in the Yunnan salient of China,
and Phong Saly, capital of Phong Saly Province.*
2. In September 1968, the Chinese began to
build the main Ban Betene - Muong Sai road. The
initial construction force of 1,500 troops re-
portedly was aided by ten bulldozers, some 35
trucks, several rock crushers, and at least one
motorized surface roller. By the end of November
1968, the Chinese had added 1,500 more laborers,
armed troops, and support personnel and had com-
pleted about half of a preliminary road on the
52-mile route to Muong Sai. As a result of this
rapid pace, the road was completed by the end of
1968 to within a few miles of Muong Sai (see
Figure 2).
3. With the exception of a short section south
of the Chinese border, the new road generally fol-
lows a heavily used trail between Ban Batene and
Muong Sai. The road is of excellent construction
and is laid out with good grades and few curves.
Concrete culverts and short bridges are constructed
at water crossings and the road is surfaced with
crushed stone and gravel (see Figure 3). The
village of Muong Sai was a logical choice for the
first terminus for two main reasons: first, it is
an important Pathet Lao headquarters and, second,
it is a major junction for trails leading north
toward Route 19 and on to Dien Bien Phu, and for
trails leading southwest to Pak Beng on the Mekong.
The Road to Muong La
4. Prior to the completion of the road to
Muong Sai, the Chinese in January 1969 started work
on a branch road (Route 45) northeast from Muong
Sai toward the village of Muong La. The road
* Laotian Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma has chosen
to consider that the current road construction is
covered under a vague Zy worded communique issued in
December 1962 following the visit of Deputy Premier
Phoumi Nosavan to Peking. Chinese representatives
in Vientiane have denied having any knowledge of
current road construction in northern Laos and have
not mentioned or commented on the 1962 communique.
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Figure 2. Section of the Ban Batene-Muong Sai road
about 15 miles south of the China border.
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Figure 3. Concrete culvert just north of
Muong Sai on the road to Muong La.
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apparently will connect with Route 19 which leads
to Dien Bien Phu in North Vietnam. By March 1969,
road construction had been completed as far as
Muong La on the Nam Ma River. Work on the road
was halted at that point and construction was
started in April on a permanent bridge over the
Nam Ma.
5. Bridge construction, which had stopped
during the rainy season, was resumed at a slow
pace in October 1969 and a ford was built in
November near the bridge site. Work on the road,
however, has been confined to improving the section
between Muong Sai and Muong La by the addition of
culverts and bridges and topping the earth-surface
road with crushed stone. During December, approxi-
mately one mile of new road was constructed from
the bridge site on the route between Muong La and
the present terminus of Route 19 on the Nam Ou River
(see Figure 4).
The Road to Muong Houn
6. With the return of good weather in September
1969, the Chinese started construction of a road
southwest of Muong Sai toward Muong Houn. Following
completion of 4 permanent concrete pier bridge
over the Nam Ko at Muong Sai, work on the road
proceeded at a rapid pace., During October, eight
miles of new road was completed, and intermittent
survey and preliminary road traces were cleared
along the 55-mile route between Muong Sai and Muong
Houn. The construction pace was accelerated in
November, and by the end of the month the Chinese
had extended the road an additional nine miles and
cleared the road alignment for an additional 11 miles.
The road was extended another 10 miles along these
clearings by 4 December and preliminary traces had
been prepared for an additional 10 miles (see
Figure 1). By mid-December, the road was motorable
for about 35 miles.
7. By 4 December, the road had crossed the
high terrain dividing the watershed of the Nam Ou
River system, which drains to the northeast, and
tributaries of the Mekong River which drain to
the southwest. Once across this divide, the road
will be routed down the Beng River Valley along
the general alignment of a former French logging
road known as Route 46. At the present rate of
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Figure 4. New bridge under construction at Muang La.
77580 1-70 CIA
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and im the basic roadway. This construction
Prove
se ermits the Chinese to use large nu ers
sequence permits the Chinese to use large numbers
of laborers, and minimizes the need for mechanized
equipment.
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construction (approximately one mile per day), the
new road and permanent bridge and culverts could
easily be completed to the Mekong by the end of
the current dry season in May 1970. The 13 December
terminus of the road is less than 20 miles from
Muong Houn, and only 50 miles from Pahk Beng on the
Mekong. There were no signs, however, that the
road was being worked on beyond Muong Houn at this
time.
Other Road Construction
3. The Chinese Communists recently announced
to villagers in Muong Sing that they intend to
build a road across northwestern Laos between Yunnan
Province and Burma. The Chinese improved the border
road from China to Muong Sing during early 1969,
but there is no evidence that work has begun on
the trails running southwest from Muong Sing.
Southeast of Muong Sing, however, limited trail
clearing has been observed in the area of Nam Tha,
which is located midway between Ban Batene and
Muong Sing. This work probably represents the
start of a branch road off the Batene - Muong Sal
road to Nam Tha which could be built during the
next three to four months,
Construction Techniques and Equipment
9. The Chinese followed their normal, labor
intensive, road construction practices in Northern
Laos. In the first phase, small groups of laborers
and some equipment break motorable trails, so that
supplies can be provided to survey and clearing
crews. The route is then cleared and widened by
larger labor gangs sprez.d out over a long distance.
Only crude water crossings are prepared at this
time. Other groups of workers then improve the
route alignment, construct permanent bridges and
culverts, and do major grading such as cutting and
filling of the roadbed. In the final stage, the
road is surfaced with crushed stone or gravel, and
spur roads, vehicle turn-around points, and parking
revetments are built. Labor gangs equipped with
hand tools are stationed along the road to maintain
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10. By Chinese standards, however, considerable
amount3 of heavy construction equipment and vehicles
are being used in Laos.
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Photography also has revealed several
rock crushers, at least two of which were co-located
in a gravity-loading setup. Photographic missions
during November and December 1968 revealed an
average of 30 to 40 vehicles on the road between
Batene and Muong Sai and roadwatch teams have
reported consistent traffic volumes of 10 to
12 trucks per day since September.
Permanent Facilities
11. As shown in the tabulation below, there has
been a steady increase of permanent support facili-
ties along the Batene to Muong Sai road.
Date
Number of
Buildings a/
Camps/Facilities
January 1969
140
April 1969
750
September 199
1,100
a. Building counts have not been completed on
the roads leading from Muong Sai to Muong La and
Nuong Houn.
The camps are continuously being improved and have
taken on a permanent appearance. The temporary
bamboo sheds that were initially built to house
the first work crews are being replaced with more
permanent structures. Basketball courts (usually
associated with Chinese, not Laotian troops) have
been identified at some facilities and access
roads to the camps have been improved. Antiaircraft
weapon sites also have been prepared adjacent to
some camps and along the roads.
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12. The capacity of the camps along the new
roads in Laos exceeds the needs of the present labor
force which, by October 1969, was estimated at
6,000 Chinese troops and laborers and an unknown
number of indigenous villagers.
Conclusions
13. Chinese road construction in northern Laos
is proceeding at a rapid pace. As many as 6,000
Chinese troops and laborers new are involved in
this program which includes the construction of a
large number of permanent buildings. The Batene
to Muong Sai road -- a 50-Nile route which was
completed between September 1968 and April 1969 --
currently is being extended southwest toward Muong
Houn and the Mekong River village of Pak Beng, less
than 20 miles from the Thai border. This extension
was being built at a rate that averaged one mile
per day during late November. If the Chinese should
choose to do so, the road could he completed, with
permanent water crossings, as far as the Mekong
River before the start of the rainy season in May 1970.
14. The road completed in April 1969 northeast
from Muong Sai to Muong La has not been extended
beyond Muong La but work is nearing completion on
a major bridge at its present terminus. The ulti-
mate destination of this road probably is Route 19
which crosses into North Vietnam.
15. The roads that the Chinese have built and
are building in northern Laos are two-lane, all-
weather routes of excellent construction. Facili-
ties in the camps along the read also are well
constructed and are in excess of the requirements
for housing work crews and equipment. These roads
will give the Pathet Lao forces a stronger capa-
bility to challenge Royal Laotian troops in north-
western Laos. The high quality of the roads and
the size and permanent nature of the associated
facilities indicate that Chinese involvement in
northern Laos is not short term.
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