Are there toll roads in China? How roads are built in China

Half a century ago, China was one of the most backward countries in terms of the length of paved roads. The PRC government believed that there were more important tasks... The situation began to change only in the 80s, when it was understood that it was impossible to continue without modern road infrastructure. There was even a slogan: "If we want to get rich, we must first build roads." At this time, the government adopted the first plan for the creation of a network of state expressways and the corresponding quality standards were developed. We decided on the sources of financing for the construction (funds from the state budget, local budgets, road maintenance fees, additional duties when buying a car, excise taxes on fuel). Since 1985, all this has been formalized by separate laws (many organizational problems have not been resolved in our country to this day). At the same time, the state allowed the introduction of tolls on high-class highways to return construction loans.

The first high-speed road, Shanghai - Jiading (18.5 km), was opened in 1988, after which the laying of such routes rushed on the rise. Already in the first decade, China has achieved such results in road construction that it took Europe and the United States more than half a century! The construction of highways raised the level of all road construction, allowed the backward industry, where the main means of production were a shovel, a wheelbarrow, a hand roller and millions of low-paid workers, to reach a modern level. Serious manufacturers of road equipment appeared.

The construction of high-speed roads continues now, and at the same fantastic pace. By the beginning of the 21st century, their length exceeded 10 thousand km. In 2002 - already 20 thousand, and in 2008 - 60 thousand km! By the end of 2013, the total length of roads exceeded 4.1 million km, including 104.5 thousand km of expressways. According to the Transport Development Program for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), a network of high-speed roads will be formed in China in the coming years, which will connect all regions and almost all cities with a population of over 200,000 people. Already today there are 300,000 bridges in China (a thousand of them are more than a kilometer long). By the number of modern roads, the country has taken the second place in the world, and all the highways were built in 20 years!

SECRET TECHNOLOGIES

The Chinese have not invented anything new. Government and regional institutions are planning how the transport network should grow - taking into account the development of the economy, the direction of freight and passenger traffic, and the growth in the number of cars. There is a lot of money in the country, including free money - money that can be spent on creating a modern infrastructure. Rhetorical question: why didn't they do this in Russia when the country was literally flooded with petrodollars? Between 2005 and 2010, China's national expressway network was invested $17-18 billion a year, and now that the main arteries are in operation, they are spending $12 billion a year.

The federal or local authorities have full control over the construction, but it is usually carried out at the expense of the contractor. And the state or the government of the region will pay him only after all the work has been completed, and it is precisely within the framework of the amount that is prescribed in the contract. High rates are a direct result of such a system: builders want to return the money invested as quickly as possible. At the same time, not at the expense of quality: the agreed service life of roads, as a rule, is at least 25 years.

MONEY ON THE TABLE

Most roads in China are free. There are also two types of toll roads: state (built at the expense of the budget) and commercial (built at the expense of own or borrowed funds of companies). For a simple motorist, there is no difference between them, but according to the law, a state road should become free after 15 years of operation, and a commercial one after 25 years. Fee for cars - from 0.25 to 0.6 yuan (1.3-3.3 rubles) per 1 km, depending on the time of day, season, etc. For trucks - from 3 to 7 rubles, which is not much different from European tariffs. But there are two differences from Europe or neighboring Japan. First, in cities, all roads are free, even if they are futuristic six-level interchanges, like in Shanghai. And in the same Tokyo, entry to the multi-level city freeway is paid. Secondly, there is not always a free alternative road, and in such cases a separate decision is made at the government level each time.

I have traveled a lot on Chinese roads. To be honest, there are also old, broken ones among them, especially in the north of the country. But new roads, interchanges, bridges, as well as the pace of their construction, are amazing. Sometimes the area is not recognizable: I remember that last year there was an open field here and there were some huts - and today there is a highway, and at the second level, and new interchanges are being built ...

The Donghai Bridge, built three years ago, impressed me the most. When you look at the map, you get the feeling that it leads nowhere and breaks off into the open sea. But it's not like that. The Shanghai port, the world's largest in terms of turnover, is located in the shallow mouth of the Yangtze River and cannot accommodate today's huge tankers and container ships. To solve this problem, a new port was built on the small island of Yanshan - just for such ships. And they connected the island to the mainland with a bridge 32.5 km long. Fantastic building! Six - eight lanes for traffic, excellent coverage, lighting ... You drive as if on the high seas! So, Donghai was built in just three years! And this is not the longest bridge in China: in Shandong province there is a bridge over the Jiaozhou Bay with a length of 36.5 km. And for reference: seven of the ten longest bridges in the world are located in China.

BROTHERS - FOREVER?

How can we use the Chinese experience? What can be done together to defeat the first eternal Russian misfortune?

A number of joint projects are already being implemented: for example, new border crossings are being built on the Russian-Chinese border, as well as highways leading to them. The construction of two bridges across the Amur is planned: Blagoveshchensk - Haihe (there is already a project) and in the Trans-Baikal Territory, near the village of Pokrovka. Both Chinese and Russian companies will work. The largest road construction corporations of the Middle Kingdom are very interested in the opportunity to participate in our main infrastructure projects - the construction of the Central Ring Road in the Moscow region, the new high-speed highway Western Europe - Western China (for them this is the most important transit direction!). And the main project that at least two leading Chinese companies have set their sights on in recent months is the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait. As soon as it became known about this project, a large delegation of Chinese experts immediately arrived in Kerch. And they showed me the Donghai Bridge for a reason!

Chinese partners would like to invest about five trillion rubles in the development of our transport infrastructure over five years, and I believe that our cooperation has very good prospects, I am sure Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov. - We have already managed to agree with partners on a number of key issues. First, Russian and Chinese companies will work together at all stages. Secondly, Chinese banks and funds are ready to invest in joint projects, and directly, in yuan and rubles. Thirdly, there is support at the highest level both from our side and from China.

It seems that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait may be the first, but a very serious joint project. Judge for yourself: in difficult conditions, it is necessary to build a bridge crossing 19 km long, which will pass along the dam through the island of Tuzla to Kerch. The Taman Peninsula, Tuzla and the Crimean coast will be connected by two spans of a two-tier combined road and rail bridge - 1.4 and 6.1 km long. And to approach the bridge, it will be necessary to build at least 40 km of roads to Taman, 8 km of highway to Kerch, 17 km of railways ... The bridge will also serve as a support for water conduits. Alas, we have no experience in building facilities of this magnitude. European companies are not helpers here - they will not go to Crimea, so as not to fall under sanctions. And the Chinese do not need to take experience: they are now building the longest bridge in the world: Macau - Hong Kong. Its length is 58 km.

750 meters per hour - with such a speed, new roads are being built in China today. How did the “Chinese road miracle” happen and how can the experience of our neighbors help us?

The records set by the Chinese for the construction of bridges and roads are impressive. The other day they paved a junction for a new railway station in 9 hours.

1.5 hours - and the bridge is ready

1,500 workers and 23 excavators overnight connected 3 major railway lines to the Nanlong New Line in southern China. At the same time, they not only paved the road, but also installed traffic lights and other means of control along it. As explained Zhang Daosong, Deputy Head of the Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group - Chief Builder of Railways in China, the project was completed in record time due to the fact that the workers were organized into 7 teams that simultaneously performed various tasks. But it is obvious that the secret of Chinese success is not only in smart management.

It's also about technology. So, in 2016, the Chinese deployed two bridges 100 meters long by 90 degrees in 1.5 hours. Huge structures were assembled along the railway track, and then installed perpendicularly on prepared supports. At the same time, the busy highway under the railway tracks did not overlap - everything happened right above the cars.

And in 2015, the Chinese dismantled the old and assembled a new 6-lane road bridge in Beijing in 43 hours. During this time, they also managed to apply markings. For the new surface of the bridge, a 1300-ton structure was needed, which was transported already finished. As the representative of the contractor explained, a new technology of "integrative replacement" was used. Reconstruction in the usual way would have taken at least 2 months, but a key traffic intersection in the northeast of Beijing, connecting the 3rd Ring Road, the airport expressway and Route 101, could not be blocked for so long.

They build in a week what we build in a year

750 m per hour - with such a speed, new roads are being built in the Celestial Empire today. All expressways were built in the last 20 years! How did the "Chinese road miracle" happen and why can't we learn from this experience?

“In terms of construction, China has long overtaken not only us, but the whole world,” AiF explained. President of the Union of Estimators Pavel Goryachkin. - In terms of production of building materials, it is simply out of competition, even the Americans are far behind. A simple example: we produce 79-80 million tons of cement per year, while the Chinese produce more than 1 billion tons! This is a serious indicator, especially since they do not export cement. They build as many roads in a week as we do in a year. We used to laugh at Chinese fakes, and they, like a sponge, absorb all new technologies. Now we are not talking about manual labor, when a million Chinese were rounded up and they dug some kind of pit with shovels. No! We are talking about high-tech construction. Today, the Chinese produce on their territory almost the entire range of necessary construction machinery and equipment. Chinese engineers study at the best universities in the world, train at the best construction sites, and this is supported by the state in every possible way. They understand that construction is one of the locomotives of the economy, which is why they invest. The Chinese are a very hardworking and talented people. Technological solutions show how they are progressing.

And even with the amount of money that we pump into our construction projects, for some reason we can’t work like that. Of course, we can do something: we have modern equipment, the market for building materials is developed, and we have engineers, but... In China, construction is a priority for the state, while in our country, over the past two years, we, the builders, have heard only threats and insults from officials: they say, we don’t need shared construction, all developers are thieves and crooks. Rosstat records a decrease in the volume of produced building materials by 10%. According to the Supreme Arbitration Court, in terms of the number of bankruptcies, builders are in the forefront. How can the industry develop here?!”

We add that in China, government and regional officials are planning how the transport network should grow - taking into account the development of the economy, the direction of freight and passenger traffic, and the growth in the number of cars. A lot of money is allocated for this. But, although the cost of 1 km of a highway in our countries is approximately comparable, in the Celestial Empire they build many times faster and better - the agreed service life of a highway there is 25 years.

The only good news is that our builders already have joint projects with the Chinese. The largest road-building corporations of the Celestial Empire want to invest in Russia, which means that we need to learn and adopt their experience. And not only to engineers and builders, but also to managers.

Road infrastructure plays an important role in the development and economic growth of any country. The low technical level of roads becomes the reason for the high level of the transport component in the cost of production. China managed to overcome this problem in a very short time. How roads are built in China, you will learn from the article.

It is hard to imagine that just 50 years ago, China was among the backward countries in terms of the number of paved roads. In the 80s of the 20th century, the Chinese leadership realized that without a well-developed road network, the country's prosperity is impossible.

In this regard, the situation is more than sad. The main part of all roads was not of good quality:

Only 25% had a hard surface - asphalt or concrete;
60% of the entire network required a major overhaul.

At this time, a program for the construction of expressways was adopted and quality standards for laying the roadway were developed.

The first Shanghai-Jiading Expressway, 18.5 km long, was opened in 1988. This event was the beginning of the Chinese "road miracle". But without funds and manpower, the implementation of ideas is hardly possible. There are no problems with the labor force in China, and the work was financed from various sources:

private and foreign borrowings;
public sources at all levels: the state budget, from the budget of the provinces and municipalities;
public-private partnership in the form of a concession;
issuance of infrastructure bonds.

The main sources of return on investment for repayment of loans are tolls and income from the use of land plots in the roadside.

Reference. The cost of travel on expressways is one of the highest in the world - an average of about 0.5 yuan per kilometer.

At the beginning of the 21st century, China ranked fourth in the world in terms of total length of highways. After this turning point, Chinese road construction was unstoppable, and as of 2017, China ranks third with a total highway length of over 4.8 million kilometers.

Reference. In second place is India with 5.6 million kilometers, and in first place is the United States with 64.2 million kilometers. Russia is only on the fifth line - 1.5 million kilometers.

Until 2020, all cities with a population of more than 200,000 people will be connected by a road network of high-speed highways. It is planned that all residents of the eastern provinces will be able to reach the expressways within half an hour, the central provinces within one hour, and the western provinces within two hours. Thus, the economic integration of the provinces will take place.

The positive effect of creating a network of multi-lane express roads:

reduction of transport costs of all sectors of the economy;
increase in the speed of turnover of goods and vehicles;
decrease in the level of insurance stocks in warehouses;
entry of enterprises into previously inaccessible markets;
increasing mobility and improving the quality of life of the population.

The Chinese have not invented anything new. They just carefully follow the technology, without stepping back from it. This is the key to the high quality of roads that serve for many years.

China's highway construction technology is as follows:

a high cushion of sand and gravel is created;
metal fittings are laid on top;
poured with concrete;
a thick layer of asphalt is laid on top of the concrete.

The guarantee for operation of a paving makes 25 years.

Pothole repair is also present on Chinese roads, but it is also carried out in accordance with all the rules. The smallest crumbs of asphalt are blown out, which can interfere with adhesion with the laid material. The patch site is warmed up so that the old asphalt is connected to the new one.

But the construction speed is amazing - up to 750 meters per hour - at its low cost.

Reference. The cost of 1 kilometer of a four-lane highway (in million dollars): China - 2.9; Brazil - 3.6; Russia - 13.

The low price is made up of cheap labor, quality materials and thoughtful organization. It's better to do it right once than to do it a thousand times. And contractors are interested in this in the first place, since payment for the work is made only after it is completed. And the quality must meet the most stringent standards.

Repairs during the warranty period, which ranges from 15 to 25 years, are carried out at the expense of the contractor. This is the secret of high speed and good quality of Chinese roads. The contractor wants to return the invested funds as soon as possible.

How the movement is organized

Multi-kilometer traffic jams are a real problem for all major cities. What can we say about China, where the number of inhabitants exceeds 1.5 billion people. That's why the Chinese government had to take unpopular measures to relieve the road network of major cities.

Only 240,000 new license plates are issued annually in China and are drawn in lotteries or sold at auctions. The cost of a room at auctions can exceed the cost of the car itself and reach 1 million rubles. But having a car is very prestigious, and these difficulties do not stop the Chinese.

Special rules for entering major cities

The entry of non-resident car owners into Beijing requires a special permit. But local residents can enter the center of Beijing only 4 times a week. This is determined by the last digit of the license plate: those with an even number can use the car on even days, and on odd days, owners with an odd last digit of the number can use the car.

Truck transport ban

Vans and trucks can be on the roads of large cities only at night from 23:00 to 06:00.

In large cities there is no free parking, and the prices for them are high.

Important! Foreigners who do not have a Chinese license cannot drive in China.

The implementation of the rules is monitored around the clock by numerous impartial cameras that can be found literally everywhere.

China has a system of penalty points. Each driver can receive no more than 12 points within one year. If their number exceeds this figure, the rights are withdrawn, and the driver is sent for retraining. Points are not awarded for frivolous violations, only a monetary fine comes.

For example, parking in the wrong place, or entering a major city without permission. And for serious violations - running a red light, driving in the oncoming lane or reversing on the motorway - a fine is charged and points are awarded.

For drunk drivers, the law in China is harsh. If the blood contains more than 0.5 ppm, the driver will face a fine of 520 to 2,100 yuan, detention for 15 days and deprivation of rights for up to six months. And if a fatal accident occurred due to the fault of a drunk driver, then punishment in the form of the death penalty is possible.

And if you accumulate fines and do not pay them, then the driver's license is confiscated, and the car is taken to a car impound.

Types of roads in China

All roads in China can be classified according to technical or administrative criteria.

According to technical standards:

On an administrative basis:

National- connect the capital of the PRC with the provinces, large industrial centers, run from north to corner and from east to west.
provincial- connect provincial capitals with major provincial centers
county- connect counties to each other
Urban– the network is expensive in large cities
special purpose- for special purposes

There are two types of roads in China:

State- are built at the expense of loans issued to the Government of the PRC by banks. Such roads are used as toll roads for 15 years, and after this period they become free.
Commercial- are built at the expense of own or borrowed funds of companies. They can become free after 25 years.

Definitely, Russia should take a closer look at the experience of China. To a greater extent, this applies to payment for the work carried out by the contractor after their direct implementation.

And not as it happens now: funds are allocated and what is finally received is accepted.

Another point that affects the cost of work. China is studying the experience of other countries in road construction and, reducing the cost by 2-2.5 times, places orders with contractors. In Russia, funds are allocated based on the experience of previous periods.

The road is being repaired in China at the expense of the contractor, and not from budgetary funds, as is practiced in Russia.

Purposeful investment and attraction of finance in the construction of high-speed roads, and not from the budget on a residual basis. Toll highways have already appeared in Russia, but the speed of their construction is still very low. But, despite the dissatisfaction of motorists with the fare, the future lies with such roads. It remains to be hoped that the development of the construction of high-speed highways in Russia will gain momentum.

China has managed to achieve significant results in the development of its road network in a short period of time. This became possible thanks to the balanced policy of the PRC Government, including the introduction of relevant bills and thoughtful financing of the industry. Their example shows that the seemingly impossible becomes possible.

Useful video

This video shows how the Chinese build roads:

In 10 days, as many roads are being built in China as were built in Russia in the whole of 2008. Director of the Center for Post-Industrial Society Research Vladislav Inozemtsev told how China builds roads that last 20 years, and why there is nothing complicated in this. Photographs show a network of high-speed highways in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. “The construction of roads in China is the responsibility of the state, and most of them are free. There was an attempt to collect fares, but they were quickly abandoned on a large scale. In China, roads are treated as an important tool for strengthening statehood, so the problem is given great attention. The pace of construction reaches 30,000 kilometers of multi-lane highways per year, and its technologies (laying the base of the canvas from concrete slabs and covering it with asphalt) ensure operation for 20-25 years.
The Chinese are not doing anything supernatural - they take into account the growth in the welfare of citizens, the increase in the number of cars and the growth in freight traffic. As for the low cost of their roads, it is due to the cheapness of labor and materials and the good organization of construction. In China, they are guided by the costs that exist in other countries, reduce them by 2-2.5 times, and present these amounts to contractors. In Russia, money is allocated based on how much was spent in past periods. In China, payment is largely based on the result of work. In our country, the contractor is immediately allocated money, and the quality is accepted by almost anyone. In China, the contractor insures the road from the amount received, and repairs are made not from budget funds, but from insurance funds. And the “corruption tax” in China is much less than in Russia.”
The cost of 1 kilometer of a four-lane highway: China - $2.9 million, Brazil - $3.6 million, Russia - $12.9 million (the Moscow-St. about $400 million) From 2003 to 2008, 480 thousand kilometers of roads were laid in China. The total length is 1.9 million kilometers. By 2020, it should reach 3 million kilometers. There are 300,000 road bridges in China, 700 of them are longer than a kilometer.

It's no secret that the Chinese economy is developing by leaps and bounds. Of course, the development of the economy, industry and agriculture is unthinkable without the development of construction, services, business and infrastructure development. The transport industry, transport infrastructure have always been, are and will be the engines of the development of the economy of any state. And without the construction of new roads, railways and airports, it is impossible to build a successfully developed modern state.

Today, more than 700 meters of roads per hour are being built in China. Think about it. While you sleep at night, another 5-6 kilometers of new modern roads will be built in China. What is this "East Asian miracle" that we can learn from the experience of building new roads from our neighbors?

Almost from scratch

Fifty years ago, China was a backward country with a predominantly agrarian-oriented economy. There were almost no paved roads, since the Chinese communist authorities believed that there were more urgent problems in the country than the construction of roads and communications.

However, in the 1980s, China realized that without the development of infrastructure, including roads, the development of the economy in the modern world is impossible. The country's authorities have created a plan for the construction of high-speed highways, while developing quality standards for the roadway. Funds for the construction of roads were found from the budget of the PRC, the budget of local authorities, as well as from service fees, additional duties and taxes when purchasing a car, and excise taxes on gasoline. Already during the construction of the first expressways, the Chinese authorities established a toll on roads in order to pay off the loan funds spent on their construction.

The first highway, almost 20 kilometers long, was built in 1988. After that, the pace of road construction from year to year begins to grow at a frantic pace. In 10 years, China has built as many kilometers of roads as it took the countries of Europe and the United States to build in half a century. The entire transport industry in the country grew before the eyes of the whole world by leaps and bounds. And if earlier roads were built with the help of two hands, a shovel and a wheelbarrow attached to a bicycle, now modern high-tech machines have appeared in the country.

In China, they do not even think of slowing down the momentum and pace of road construction. In 2001, the total length of expressways was 10,000 km. In 2002 - 20 thousand km, in 2008 - 60 thousand km. In 2014, the total length of highways amounted to more than 4 million kilometers, of which more than 100 thousand kilometers are expressways. The State Program includes a project, according to which by the end of this year, high-speed roads should connect all Chinese cities with a population of at least 200,000 people. Moreover, along with the construction of roads, China is actively building bridges, crossings and tunnels. There are more than 300 thousand bridges in the country alone! And all this was built in 25 years. Recently, the Chinese authorities announced the construction of a bridge from Hong Kong to Macau, between which a high-speed cruise ship covers the distance in two hours.

Modern technologies

The Chinese are famous for being not so much inventors as manufacturers. Their construction technologies are borrowed from the experience of road construction in Europe, the USA and Japan. However, the Government of the country, scientists and technologists plan in advance the development of the transport network, taking into account the priorities in the development of the economy, passenger traffic, the transport potential of individual regions, etc.

The state and local regional authorities exercise full control over the progress of road construction, but the contractor invests only his own funds in the construction. And only after the facility is put into operation, the state and investors will pay the contractor the full amount in accordance with the signed agreement. And this motivates the companies that have taken up the work to complete them as soon as possible, which is very lacking in our construction companies, not only in the field of road construction.

Chinese socialism

Traveling on Chinese roads is mostly free. But there are also toll roads - built for budgetary funds and private ones. For ordinary car owners there is not much difference, however, after 15 years from the date of commissioning, the state road automatically becomes free, while the private road after 25 years. The fare for passenger cars is from 1 to 3 rubles per kilometer, it depends on weather conditions and time of day. For trucks, the fare is in the region of 3-7 rubles per kilometer. But in China, unlike in Western Europe and Japan, roads are free in cities. Also in China, toll roads are always duplicated by free ones, which are also built for budget money.

China's experience for Russia

Even today, China and Russia are actively cooperating in the field of various infrastructure projects. For example, they create projects for border crossings together and build them with joint forces and resources from both sides. The plans also include a project to build a bridge from Blagoveshchensk to neighboring Heihe, as well as a bridge from the village. Pokrovka in Transbaikalia to neighboring China across the Amur River.

Many Chinese road construction companies are interested in investing in Russia. They are interested not only in projects in the Far East, Transbaikalia and Buryatia. The Chinese want to participate in the construction of a high-speed highway from Western Europe through Russia to the western part of China. Also, two road construction companies in China are interested in the construction project of the Kerch bridge.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the construction of four lanes of a one-kilometer freeway in China costs less than $3 million. We have 7 million. However, we have different legislation and various additional costs for the transfer of existing infrastructure facilities take a significant amount of money. Only here in China more than 10 thousand kilometers of roads are built a year, and in Russia - 600 kilometers.