China Traffic Jam Enters Ninth Day

[lostinblue]

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/41410/

An unusually large and disruptive traffic jam entered its ninth day in China on Aug. 23, and is now more than 100 km (62 miles) long.

 

Thousands of trucks and cars are moving in slow motion on National Expressway 110 (G110), which leads from Hebei and the Inner Mongolia region into Beijing.

 

Traffic began using that highway after construction began on a section of the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, which runs parallel to G110, according to CNN.

 

The Beijing-Tibet highway is main channel for the transportation of coal in Inner Mongolia and Shanxi to industrial areas in China. The capacity of the G110 Beijing is 25,000 cars per day, but it is now carrying 13,000 to 14,000 freight trucks, equivalent to 48,000 cars, Chinese media reports say.

 

Most trucks are carrying coal, a staple of industry in Inner Mongolia. While other vehicles chose to bypass the jam by taking other routes, most coal truck drivers preferred to stay on the highway to avoid fines imposed by the Coal Inspection Stations on other roads.

 

The overuse of the G110 by coal trucks has also led to its deterioration. Some parts of the highway are pocked with potholes of different sizes. In one section the road had two deep furrows of over 6 inches, according to reports.

 

Drivers, mostly owners of the large trucks, have been playing cards to pass the time, while others complain about roadside vendors and their inflated prices.

 

Nonetheless, many prefer to sit and wait rather than take detours. CBC reported one driver telling a state-run newspaper: ¡°We are advised to take detours, but I would rather stay here since I will travel more distance and increase my costs.¡±

 

Recently the situation improved slightly, taking one day rather than three for trucks to pass Guxin, the most congested section in Inner Mongolia and Yanghe.

 

The last major traffic jam on the G110 was in June and lasted over 15 days. At the time it was joked that 80 percent of the freight-carrying trucks in northern China were trapped.

[dnoblett]

And I thought China had an extensive railway system. Why not haul coal by train like we do in the USA? Never heard of hauling coal by truck in the states other than to get it from a coal mine down to a rail head.

 

http://www.freefoto.com/images/23/40/23_40_1---MGR-Coal-Train_web.jpg?&k=MGR+Coal+Train

[C4Racer]

And I thought China had an extensive railway system. Why not haul coal by train like we do in the USA? Never heard of hauling coal by truck in the states other than to get it from a coal mine down to a rail head.

 

http://www.freefoto.com/images/23/40/23_40_1---MGR-Coal-Train_web.jpg?&k=MGR+Coal+Train

 

Remember, China has 3.2 billion people. This creates a big problem with keeping a surplus of workforce busy. So they create ways to need people.

Carl always mentions that he is amazed to see construction sites where they will demolish a building, then instead of bringing in a scoop and a dump truck ( 2 people) they bring in wheel barrows and shifts of 100's of people for the clean up.

Actually pretty smart on their part. If you don't keep enough people busy which can equate to feeding the masses, then you lay the ground work for revolutions.

[dnoblett]

This one started coming up on this morning's news talk shows.

 

Speed is 2 mpd that is TWO MILES PER DAY

 

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01701/traffic_1701796c.jpg

 

http://www.telegraph...raffic-jam.html

Edited August 24, 2010 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Remember, China has 3.2 billion people. This creates a big problem with keeping a surplus of workforce busy. So they create ways to need people.

Carl always mentions that he is amazed to see construction sites where they will demolish a building, then instead of bringing in a scoop and a dump truck ( 2 people) they bring in wheel barrows and shifts of 100's of people for the clean up.

Actually pretty smart on their part. If you don't keep enough people busy which can equate to feeding the masses, then you lay the ground work for revolutions.

 

 

People are much cheaper than heavy equipment. I saw a dam being built in India by a LONG line of women - each with a boulder on their head. They would drop the boulder off for a single (one) man who was there to arrange them in place.

[2mike&jin]

Remember, China has 3.2 billion people. This creates a big problem with keeping a surplus of workforce busy. So they create ways to need people.

Carl always mentions that he is amazed to see construction sites where they will demolish a building, then instead of bringing in a scoop and a dump truck ( 2 people) they bring in wheel barrows and shifts of 100's of people for the clean up.

Actually pretty smart on their part. If you don't keep enough people busy which can equate to feeding the masses, then you lay the ground work for revolutions.

I think China, by last reports, has about 1.339B people, or about 20% of the worlds population. What is often overlooked - is India's population, with no birth limits, is about 1.17B and growing much faster than the shrinking PRC. Thank goodness China doesn't have 3.2B people - they would just dwarf the rest of the world.

[Robert S.]

It was nice to see in the news that reporters today went to go check the traffic jam and they found it had resolved since last night. There was a lot of traffic, they said, but it was moving.

 

Ha-ha, don't you know, someone very high up told the right people they better do something to unclog that jam because they did not want to see any more new stories about it!