An aerial view of the Zhangzhou Tianbao to Longyan Jiaoyang Expressway Expansion Project. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A highway expansion project in Fujian province has won the 21st Tien-Yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize, one of China's top awards for technological innovation in civil engineering.

The Zhangzhou Tianbao to Longyan Jiaoyang Expressway Expansion Project, designed by Fujian Provincial Transportation Planning and Design Institute, was among the six highway engineering projects nationwide selected for the award. It is the first highway project in Fujian to receive the honor after new award evaluation rules took effect.

The 127.51-kilometer project starts at the Tianbao Interchange on the Xiamen-Chengdu Expressway in Zhangzhou and ends at the Jiaoyang Interchange in Longyan. The project pioneered a "braided" alignment design, in which road sections overlap like strands of a braid. It also built a new downhill bypass route that reduced the average gradient from 4.2 percent to 1.85 percent.

After the project opened to traffic, the overall accident rate along the section dropped by 85 percent, eliminating long-standing safety risks on what was previously known as a dangerous road section.

The project also completed China's first in-place widening design for highway tunnels and developed customized bridge foundation designs to address challenging geological conditions, including karst formations and underground rivers.

During the design process, the project team carried out research programs that produced 35 invention patents, more than 40 academic papers in key journals, and 14 standards at the national, industry, and local levels.