Tibetan Youth UK

July 28, 2006 4:01 p.m. EST

Komfie Manalo –

All Headline News Foreign Correspondent

Beijing, China (AHN) - Chinese officials declared Friday that China's "Railway to the roof of the world," is developing cracks in its concrete structures while its permafrost foundation is sinking and cracking.

Chinese Railway Ministry spokesman Wang Yongping explains the problems with the railroad to Lhasa in Tibet as "The frozen ground that forms the foundation of the railway is sinking and cracking in some sections, making the railway unstable in some places."

"The concrete is cracking on some of the railway structures and bridges, forming a hidden danger to the railway line quality."

Chinese President Hu Jintao opened the railway to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on July 1 with much fanfare. He called the railway a magnificent engineering feat and a miracle of the world.

The $4.2 billion railway which runs 1,142 kilometers from the Golmud desert in QinghaiLhasa, Tibet, is the highest railway in the world. province to

It climbs a peak of 5,072 meters above sea level along the Tibetan plateau, with the railway using supposedly state-of-the-art cooling techniques to ensure the permafrost foundation remains frozen.

# posted by Tibetan Youth UK @ 2:50 pm