Recently, Mohoton, Lesotho - Under the midday sun of mid autumn in the southern hemisphere, a steel giant dragon lies in a tunnel among the mountains of Lesotho, the "kingdom of high mountains" in southern Africa, waiting for its departure time. As the cutterhead broke through the hard rock layers, the Chinese made hard rock tunnel boring machine named "Dayu Xuedun" officially began excavation. 34 kilometers away, its twin brother "Dayu Changfeng" has been independently excavating for over a year. Two steel dragons simultaneously excavated towards each other from both ends of the tunnel inlet and outlet, performing a "two-way rush" across mountains on the roof of Africa.

Two Chinese shield tunneling machines are advancing towards each other

The Polihali Water Transfer Tunnel in the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Conservancy Project is the core project of the largest infrastructure project between Lesotho and South Africa. Due to the complex construction environment and extremely high technical difficulty, it is regarded as a world-class water conservancy project. The "Dayu Changfeng" and "Dayu Xuedun" two Chinese made hard rock tunnel boring machines are equipped with advanced systems such as heavy-duty hard rock cutterheads and normalized advanced drilling machines, and apply world leading technologies such as "dual liquid grouting" to ensure efficient and safe construction in hard rock formations and complex geological conditions in high-altitude mountainous areas.

Training and employment to improve people's livelihoods

This project not only constructs tunnels, but also continuously improves people's livelihoods. Chinese experts have spent two years' hands-on 'training local employees, and two pipe factories have achieved independent production, with over 150 local employees able to independently complete all processes. The project has created more than 2000 job opportunities and attracted young and middle-aged people from 15 surrounding villages to participate in the construction. At the same time, skill training courses such as first aid, concrete workers, and pipeline workers have been established, with a plan to cultivate 3500 skilled talents. Since 2023, the project team has also repaired football fields and clinics in the village, and added facilities such as public toilets and childcare centers. Keywords: the Belt and Road news network, water conservancy infrastructure, China Africa cooperation

Dual benefits of water transmission and power generation

After the completion of the project, Lesotho's annual water delivery capacity to South Africa will increase from 780 million cubic meters to 1.27 billion cubic meters, alleviating water shortages in five provinces of South Africa, while enhancing Lesotho's hydropower generation capacity and bringing stable benefits. Equip the construction site with sewage treatment equipment to ensure that wastewater meets discharge standards; When oil spills occur, promptly deal with contaminated soil and restore vegetation. The Chinese Ambassador to Lesotho stated that this project is a vivid manifestation of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries.Editor/Gao Xue