Construction techniques for the Taklamakan Desert Highway: research on the construction materials and the results of field tests

After conducting many laboratory and field experiments, several key technical issues related to the construction of China’s Taklamakan Desert Highway have been satisfactorily resolved. In particular, considerable progress has been made on the dry compaction of a sand sub-base, road design parameters, the creation of a structure that combines a sub-grade and asphalt pavement, analysis of the stability of a sand sub-base strengthened with geotextiles, and on the development of a complete set of construction techniques. The achievements of this research were successfully applied for the first time in the Taklamakan Desert, where the environmental conditions are extremely harsh. The results suggest that the construction of this highway was economical and that the simple construction methods produced a reliable highway. The resulting highway is believed to be the world’s first long-distance graded highway running through a huge desert with migrating dunes.