With the first box girder of the Wuyi section of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu high-speed railway readied on Thursday, construction of the railway, a key livelihood project, has embarked a new journey ahead of the final operation.

The Wuyi section, at 51.87 kilometers long, was constructed by the China Railway 24th Bureau Group Corp Ltd, a unit of the nation's largest contractor China Railway Construction Corp.

There are 27 bridges planned in the project, which have a total length of 37.7 km, and six tunnels, 6.4 km, including the 1,353-meter-long Dangyang tunnel, a 'hard nut to crack' over the whole construction project.

Though they face by many difficulties, such as handling crossings with other railway lines, the builders have made various solutions based on on-site research and corresponding planning.

The Dangyang beam fabricating yard, covering an area of 145 mu (9.7 hectares), is located in Yichang, Hubei province. It undertakes the prefabrication and erection of 526 box beams of the Wuyi section of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu high-speed railway, with a total construction time span of almost two years.

The beam fabricating yard has been well designed, with fully enclosed concrete mixing stations, automatic vehicle washing platforms, waste-water treatment facilities and real-time noise monitoring.

The yard can build as many as 60 box beams per month, with a maximum storage capacity of 94 box beams.

The builders of the China Railway 24th Bureau Group have spared no efforts to protect the ecological environment along the Yangtze River.

The Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu high-speed railway is the backbone of the comprehensive three-dimensional transportation facilities in the Yangtze River areas.

After the completion of the project, the travel time and distance between Wuhan and Yichang will be greatly reduced, and many cities along the line will be supported by high-speed railways.

It will support the high-quality development of the Yangtze River economic belt and help Hubei become a strategic pivot for the prosperity of Central China.