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The Qinghai–Tibet Railway: A landmark project and its subsequent environmental challenges

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Abstract

The first part of this paper reviews the environment-friendly techniques implemented when the Qinghai–Tibet Railway was built. They include (1) state-of-the-art techniques to protect the permafrost in the subgrade of the railway embankment; (2) measures to avoid disturbing the species in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau; (3) efforts to minimize the disturbance of the grassland and wetland; and (4) regulation to ensure the environmental disposal of the construction waste. The second part presents the subsequent environmental challenges which, after the operation of the railway, potentially risk the fragile ecological and environmental system in the plateau. The challenges come from the skyrocketing tourists, expansive natural resource exploitation, the long-term efficiency of permafrost-protected measure, and climatic warming.

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Acknowledgment

Sincere thanks to Dr. Wei Cao and Dr. Mingyi Zhang for their insightful ideas to improve the paper. The comments of two anonymous reviewers are appreciated.

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  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, USA

    Yinghong Qin

  2. Southwest Research Institute of China Railway Engineering Limited Company, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Bo Zheng

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  1. Yinghong Qin
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Correspondence to Yinghong Qin.

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Qin, Y., Zheng, B. The Qinghai–Tibet Railway: A landmark project and its subsequent environmental challenges. Environ Dev Sustain 12, 859–873 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-009-9228-x

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