Recently, the bidding announcement for the franchise operator of the Lintong to Gaoling to Airport section of the Xi'an Urban Ring Road was officially released. This major transportation infrastructure project with a total investment of approximately 15.361 billion yuan has attracted widespread attention. The implementation of this project will have a profound impact on the improvement of the transportation network and regional economic development in the Xi'an metropolitan area.

According to the bidding information, the total length of this franchise project route is 54.91 kilometers, including a new section of 47.61 kilometers (including 11.87 kilometers from Lintong to Port and 35.74 kilometers from Gaoling to Airport), and a section from Port Area to Gaoling that is 7.3 kilometers long along the Beijing Kunming Expressway. The scale of the entire bridge project is huge, including 4 super large bridges of 29194 meters, 2 large bridges of 664 meters, and 10 medium bridges of 680 meters. The total length of the bridges is 30538 meters, and the proportion of bridges is as high as 64.1%. In addition, there are 53 culverts. The whole line of the project is planned to set up 10 interchanges, including Terra Cotta Warriors Terminal, Weibei New City, Xi'an Port Terminal, Gaoling South Terminal, Jinggao, Jingwei, Jinghe Terminal, Jinghe West, Airport North and Taiping Terminal, and 2 separate interchanges, 4 overpasses and 9 channels. In addition, it also includes a 4.15-kilometer-long Weibei New City interchange connection line, as well as one maintenance work area, one monitoring and communication sub center, and nine ramp toll stations.

The project adopts high standard construction, and the main line adopts the standard of a two-way six lane expressway with a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour and a roadbed width of 33.5 meters; The elevated section from Jingkun Expressway to Chama Avenue is an existing, under construction, and planned ground auxiliary road. The project construction will restore the occupied and damaged parts, and the ground road will adopt a two-way six lane standard with a design speed of 60 kilometers per hour; The Weibei New City Interchange Connection Line adopts a four lane highway standard with a design speed of 60 kilometers per hour and a roadbed width of 17 meters. The project passes through Lintong District, Chanba International Port, Gaoling District, Economic Development Zone, Jinghe New City, Qinhan New City, and Airport New City in Xi'an City, covering a wide range of areas.

In terms of investment structure, the proportion of project capital shall not be less than 20% of the estimated total investment amount, with government investors representing 49% and franchisees contributing 51%. The proportion of project financing is approximately 80% of the estimated total amount, and the financing entity is the project company. The project related income rights can be used as collateral for financing, but the implementing agency and government investor representatives do not provide any guarantees or assume debt repayment responsibilities for the project company's financing. The project return mechanism mainly relies on user payments, including vehicle tolls, advertising operating fees, parking fees, etc. Keywords: infrastructure construction, infrastructure projects, infrastructure news and information

The franchise period for this project is tentatively set at 33 years, including 3 years of pre construction and construction period, and 30 years of operation period. The final bidding period of the winning franchisee shall prevail. The preliminary and construction period of the entire project is tentatively set at 3 years. After completion, it will greatly improve the transportation connectivity of the Xi'an metropolitan area and promote the economic and social development of the areas along the route.

The advancement of this major transportation project marks a substantial step forward in the construction of the Xi'an urban ring road, which will effectively connect important nodes such as Lintong, Gaoling, and Xi'an Airport in the future, laying a solid foundation for building a modern comprehensive transportation system in Xi'an. Editor/Xu Shengpeng