Skip to main content

Improved Lanzhou airport road link in China

An upgraded road link will reduce travel time to and from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport in China Work on the expressway connecting Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to Lanzhou city centre is now underway. An important role in the resurfacing work is being played by the use of materials supplied by Shell Bitumen. The facility is the main airport for Gansu Province and it is of major economic importance to the region. The expressway runs some 70km from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to the centre of Lanzhou. Work on the
December 10, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Shell Bitumen is suppling materials for major projects in China, including the new Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to Lanzhou city expressway
An upgraded road link will reduce travel time to and from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport in China

Work on the expressway connecting Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to Lanzhou city centre is now underway. An important role in the resurfacing work is being played by the use of materials supplied by Shell Bitumen. The facility is the main airport for Gansu Province and it is of major economic importance to the region. The expressway runs some 70km from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to the centre of Lanzhou. Work on the expressway commenced in July 2015 following a successful onsite inspection in June 2015 by a 100-member contingent from the Gansu Expressway Bureau.

This project forms part of China’s US$79.8 billion infrastructure plan for Gansu province to boost trade and transportation. This programme of works is the country’s One Belt, One Road initiative, which was in launched in 2013. The initiative has seen a major increase in demand for high quality bitumen in China. Road authorities are keen to use quality materials so as to maximise the working life of roadways, needed to pave the thousands of kilometres of highways (as well as high-speed rail links). The total transport infrastructure investment in the initiative is estimated to hit $5 trillion in the next five years, equivalent to 2.5 times the market size in China.

Shell is one of the largest international bitumen suppliers in China and has a dedicated bitumen technical service team in the country. Shell imports most of its bitumen supply for China from its own plant in Pulau Bukom, Singapore, to provide Chinese customers. As well as providing high quality bitumen, Shell also operates one of its three bitumen-dedicated Regional Solution Centres in Beijing, China. The company also operates three bitumen manufacturing plants as well as two joint venture plants in strategic regions throughout China, producing high quality polymer modified bitumen (PMB) products.

The firm markets both conventional bitumen and specialised bitumen products to customers in China, including Shell Cariphalte, its polymer modified bitumen (PMB) solution. This latter product is recommended for use in heavy-duty applications such as expressways and airport runways. The company also markets a range of emulsions used in road paving and other asphalt-based products used in industrial applications. In addition, Shell Bitufresh, a specially formulated bitumen additive designed to neutralise bitumen odour, is also offered in China.

Shell Bitumen has supplied its expertise in bitumen technology to some of China’s most important infrastructure projects including the 302km-long Guangdong Guangle Expressway, Beijing’s Changan Avenue’s East section and 2nd Ring road used during the APEC meeting held in Beijing in 2014. Shell supplied bitumen for the roads surrounding Beijing Olympic Park and the China Pavilion during the 2010 World Expo held in Shanghai.

Related Content

  • French Total expands with new PMB plant
    February 7, 2012
    A new PMB plant has opened in Dubai as part of the French Total Group's plans to expand in the Middle East. As part of the Total Group's plans for expansion in Middle East countries, a decision was taken in 2008 to include specific facilities dedicated to supply raw bitumen and to manufacture polymer modified bitumen (PMB).
  • Benefits of bitumen technology research
    March 15, 2012
    Bitumen technology is benefiting from years of research and development - Kristina Smith. On a 2.7km loop of road in Auburn in Alabama, US, a lorry driver drives his triple-truck round and round. During his eight-hour shift, he will have covered 544km, with another driver waiting to take over from him for the next shift. Their mission is to seriously damage the road. This is the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), where sponsors from states and private companies pay to test out new materials and
  • Bitumen provides more durable road surface
    February 7, 2012
    When the main commuter route into Cardiff, the Welsh capital, began to suffer from acute deformation, the Vale of Glamorgan Council required a durable and faster alternative to hot rolled asphalt to ensure minimum disruption for local road users.
  • Shell’s John Read explains “adaptable bitumen” developments
    December 15, 2016
    Shell’s highly innovative bitumen and asphalt solutions are helping create future-ready urban road networks around the world to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. Shell’s general manager of bitumen technology, Professor John Read, takes a look at some of the company’s game-changing ideas. The next 30 or so years will see a significant transformation in the way we live. Whereas almost 75% of the world’s population lived in rural locations in 1950, around 75% will live in cities by 2050. The global popu