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