Life of Guangzhou - 23 Stations of Metro Line 5 to Be Completed by the End of 2008

By the end of 2008, construction on the 23 stations of Metro Line 5 will have been completed. At present, metro construction crews are working against time and trying hard to put all the planned stations into service by October, 2009. Some station halls will have toilets installed, Ouzhuang Station included. It is estimated that by 2010, Guangzhou will have opened 7 new metro lines with a total length of over 200 kilometers.

According to Chenhao, Project Manager of Metro Line 5, running in an east-west direction and covering 31.9 kilometers from Jiaokou Station to Wenchong Station, passing the busy streets in urban areas, connecting four districts of Guangzhou, Line 5 will greatly facilitate travel of Guangzhou citizens in the central urban areas and effectively ease traffic strain on the ground.

To-date, among the 23 stations of Metro Line 5, the main structures of 13 have now sealed their roofs. By the end of 2008, construction on all 23 stations will have been completed. The Metro Company has promised to try its best to put all the new stations into service by October 2009.

Chenhao announced that many construction methods have been applied in the construction of the new metro stations, among which the open deep excavation method (i.e., the Big Dig, most of the stations of Metro Line 1 were built through this method) is the easiest to implement. However, among the 24 stations of Metro Line 5, six adopted the "No-Dig method", which is much more difficult for construction with rather complicated construction methods. The Ouzhuang Station ranked No. 1 in terms of construction difficulty.

Ouzhuang Station is an interchange station between Metro Lines 5 and 6, and is located at the crossing of Huanshi Road, E. and Nonglinxia Road. The framework is very complex with busy traffic on the ground and numerous pipelines under the ground. The interchange station adopted the "No-Dig method", which is a pioneering work in China.