CRCC's Longest Oversea Railway in Angola of 1,344 Kilometers
时间：2014-08-14 14:45:43 作者： 来源：
It is known from China Railway Construction Co., Ltd (CRCC) that the reconstruction project of Bengla railway in Angola was finished for its whole line on August 13 of Beijng time, which will be open to traffic formally. This is the longest oversea railway instantly built by CRCC with Chinese standards after the Tanzania-Zambia railway assisted and built by China in the 70s of the last century.
Bengla railway, with its total length of 1,344 kilometers, starts from the Atlantic port of Lobito and ends at the eastern bordertown of Luau bordering on DR Congo. It passes through major cities like Bengla, Huambo, Kuito, and Luena, which is a vital passage for economic corridor of Lobito, Angola. This project was designed at 90 kilometers per hour, which is the fastest railway in the history of this country.
The total investment of Bengla railway was around $1.83 billion, an overall contract by EPC (Design-Purchase-Construction) of China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation, CRCC. From design to construction, it all adopted the standards of China's railway construction, with materials such as rails, cement, and communication equipments all purchased from China and equipments like rolling stocks after putting into operation provided by Chinese enterprises.
According to the introduction of Liu Feng, the deputy general manager of China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation, CRCC, and the commander of the construction headquarter of Angola, as a typical case of successful utilization of Chinese standards in railway construction in African areas, at the beginning, this project had occurred a big debate on which to use, European or Chinese standards. Angola, which used to be a colony of Portugal in history, trusted more on European standards, but by virtue of lower offers, more reasonable construction period, and higher quality commitment, the Chinese enterprise finally succeeded in persuading Angolans who arranged heavy railway maintenance projects like that in Luanda and Bengla to Chinese enterprises for responsibility.
Lei Shengxiang, the president of China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation, CRCC, showed that during the ten years' railway construction, Chinese enterprises had recruited about 1 billion person-time for two railways construction of Luanda and Bengla and over 10 thousand local workers had professional skills. Additionally, there were also over 20 Chinese workers died due to traffic accidents, diseases, landmines, etc.
For this, Dos Santos, the president of Angola agreed to build a China-Angola Friendship Monument near the capital Luanda to cherish the workers of both China and Angola sacrificed during the post-war railway reconstruction for Angola.
According to historical data, Bengla Railway was firstly built by Portugal colonists in 1902, which was open to traffic to the border of Congo in 1929, with a construction period of around 30 years. Affected by special terrain like marsh and primeval forest along the railway, after opening to traffic, the speed per hour of the train was only 30 kilometers. In 1975, after Angola got independence, nearly all railway lines within the territory of Angola were destroyed during the civil war as long as 27 years.
According to insiders, the recently finished Bengla Railway, as a vital access to the sea for inland countries like Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, will largely reduce the cost for resources export like copper mine in these countries. At the same time, the railway network connecting surrounding countries such as Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique will compose a major railway access directly from Atlantic to the India Ocean, which would tremendously facilitate regional economic development.
