At the beginning of the new year, the workers in Jiangsu's transportation infrastructure construction are full of enthusiasm and go all out, with the core goal of improving the efficiency of the comprehensive transportation network, and the main work of infrastructure renovation and expansion, focusing on promoting the "networking, network supplementation, and strong chain" project. They plan to complete a transportation infrastructure construction investment of 220 billion yuan by 2024, in order to drive economic growth and promote development.

After a year of battle by railway builders, the high-speed railway Suzhou South Station has risen from its underground foundation and recently achieved the top of the station building. At present, a hexagonal building with a total construction area of about 75100 square meters and over 10 standard football fields is clearly visible in outline. From an aerial perspective, the top north-south direction of the Tongsu Jiayong high-speed railway crosses the east-west direction of the Shanghai Suzhou Lake high-speed railway here, presenting a "meter" shaped structure with the underground water tourism line and Suzhou Rail Transit Line 10, achieving the integration and interconnection of high-speed rail, intercity railway, and urban rail. This year, the Suzhou South Station of the high-speed railway will be built and operated simultaneously with the Shanghai Suzhou Lake high-speed railway, becoming another important node in the Yangtze River Delta on the track.

Gao Tongming, Deputy Manager of Suzhou South Station Project of China Railway 14th Bureau, said, "Currently, we have more than 1800 workers fighting at the construction site. The high-speed railway station building has been capped, and the ballastless track of the Shanghai Suzhou Lake Railway will be fully connected by the end of this month, laying the foundation for subsequent track laying construction."

At present, more than 700 kilometers of high-speed railways and 8 specialized railway branch lines are under construction along the northern Yangtze River, Tongsu Jiayong, Shanghai Suzhou Lake, and Ninghuai intercity railway in Jiangsu, continuously refreshing the "progress bar" of railway construction; Ten under construction cross river passages and a number of highway expansion projects are accelerating in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River, becoming the main battlefield of transportation construction. At the same time, a large number of major transportation projects benefiting people's livelihoods in various parts of the province have made significant progress. The Yancheng West Ring Road North Extension Project has recently been completed and opened to traffic, greatly improving the efficiency of the expressway network in the northern part of the city. The rapid transformation project of Xinjing East Road Suyu Zhang South Second Ring Road in Zhangjiagang, Suzhou has entered the construction of the upper structure. After completion, it will effectively alleviate urban traffic congestion and strengthen the rapid connection between the urban area and the high-speed rail station hub.

Zhao Yongqiang, the project manager of the Phase II project of the Xianfeng Island Ecological Cluster in Yancheng, China Railway 24th Bureau, said, "During the peak period, the on-site construction equipment reached more than 200 units and the number of workers reached more than 600. It took more than 800 days to successfully complete the construction task."

Hu Shaozhuo, Deputy Director of Zhangjiagang Transportation Engineering Construction Service Center, said, "The urban expressway is the largest single project in Zhangjiagang's history with a total investment of 22.9 billion yuan. Now that the upper structure construction has fully entered, it has also sounded the call for project construction. We will strengthen the organization of construction forces and strive to complete and open to traffic by the end of 2025."

In the new year, Jiangsu will accelerate the construction of "water transportation in Jiangsu" and fully launch major projects such as the "three renovations and two renovations" of the southern section of the Beijing Hangzhou Canal. At the same time, the supporting dock of the 150000 ton LNG receiving station in the Yangkou operation area of Tongzhou Bay and the renovation and expansion of the 300000 ton waterway of Lianyungang Port will also commence as scheduled. In addition, the construction of the Yantai Xichangyi Railway and the Nanjing North Station Hub project will also be launched. In order to enhance the level of aviation hubs, the preliminary work of projects such as the third phase of Nanjing Lukou Airport is also actively being promoted. Editor/Zhao E