The Civil Engineering Contractor April 2019 | Page 15

WORLD NEWS
China now boasts the world’s largest high-speed rail network, with more than 22 000km of high-speed rail track.
China is planning to invest a record USD125-billion
in rail this year. This would be 6% more than what was
spent last year, and 10% more than what was originally
planned, according to a report in the Nikkei Asian Review. The
publication notes that the Chinese government expanded rail
spending after the 2008 financial crash, but that investment
declined after the 2011 bullet train collision and derailment
in Zhejiang Province, which left 40 people dead. Investment
has been around USD120-billion since 2014.
It comes after figures showed a rapid slowdown in
investment in the country’s fixed assets. The South China
Morning Post reported earlier this year that this had slowed to
a decade low of 5.9% in the first 11 months of 2018. China
Railway’s annual plan envisages a 45% rise in new projects,
resulting in the addition of 6 800km to the total network.
High-speed rail will be expanded by 3 200km, which is more
nine large and wide-body aircraft, as well as freight-
handling facilities.
Ramon is about 18km from the Israeli Red Sea resort
of Eilat and the adjacent Jordanian Port of Aqaba. Low-
cost and charter airlines currently flying to Ovda Airport,
about 60km from Eilat, will move to Ramon, the website
says, including Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet, SAS, Finnair,
and Ural Airlines. Construction costs for the new airport
have been put at USD455-million. Work began in 2013 but
original specifications for the project were revised to allow
for upgrades. In an emergency, not only will Israel’s entire
passenger air fleet be able to land and park there, but also
additional aircraft, the Israeli Airports Authority says. nn
Israel recently inaugurated a new international airport in
its desert south, meant to boost tourism to the nearby Red
Sea and serve as an emergency alternative to Tel Aviv’s Ben-
Gurion Airport. Initially, Ramon Airport will handle only
domestic flights, operated by Israeli carriers Arkia and Israir.
The new airport, named after Ilan Ramon, Israel’s
first astronaut who died in the crash of the space
shuttle Columbia, will in the future host jumbo jets from
around the globe. Its website says that it will be able to
initially handle up to two million passengers annually,
but will expand to a capacity of 4.2 million by 2030. It
has a 3 600m-long runway and apron parking space for
than what is currently being operated in by (in order of size)
Spain, Japan, Germany, or France. The use of rail to bolster
domestic demand means that Beijing is now well ahead of
its schedule to build 30 000km of high-speed railway lines
by 2020.
Among the new lines under consideration is a conventional
link through the mountainous terrain between Chongqing
and Yunnan. Projects to be undertaken after 2019 include
a second railway from Sichuan to Tibet, a 1 700km line
that poses huge engineering challenges and may cost as
much as USD36-billion. Other planned projects include
lines between Hunan and Jiangxi, Chongqing and Sichuan
Province and the Xiong’an New Area and Henan. This
expansion is not without economic dangers: China Railway’s
total debt burden exceeds USD735-billion. nn
Timna Valley, in Israel’s Negev desert.
www.civilsonline.co.za
CEC April 2019 | 13