Eleven tunneling projects passing through the Beijing-Shijiazhuang High-Speed Rail and Shijiazhuang-Wuhan High-Speed Rail lines have been completed. The tunnels are important supporting projects in Hebei’s South-to-North Water Diversion program.

The tunneling projects are necessary because most of the supporting projects run east-west while vital railway lines run south-east. The newly completed projects all run south-north, with a total investment of 80.5 million yuan.

The Hebei Provincial Water Affairs Group is in charge of the projects. They finished preparation work in the beginning of 2011 and began construction in April 2012. By July all tunneling projects had been finished.

According to the Hebei Provincial Water Affairs Group, the tunneling projects are vital not only to the safety of the South-to-North Water Diversion program, but also to smooth transportation. They must be finished on time with high quality so that the main projects and supporting projects of the South-to-North Water Diversion program can be built.

this article is a little confusing. it is never explained why south-north tunnels are more important than east-west. do they want to avoid the railway lines? do they need to cross the railway lines? some background information may be helpful.