The first lot of Zaoyang-Xiantao section of the middle section (Zhongwei-Ji'an) of the 3rd West to East gas pipeline began on 25thOct., 2021 opened.

The first lot is located in Zaoyang City, passing through Liusheng Town, Xinglong Town, Suiyang management area and Wangcheng town. The total length of the line is 43.32km, made of X80 steel, design pressure of 10 MPa and pipe diameter of 1219mm. Two class B monitoring valve chambers (119# and 120#) are set along the line. Large excavation crosses medium-sized rivers once, expressways once, grade highways six times, railways twice, ditches and aquaculture ponds 29 times, underground pipelines 29 times and underground optical (electric) cables 39 times. The landforms are mainly gentle hills, gullies between hills and alluvial proluvial plains. Most of the earthwork are grade II and VII, and the groundwater depth is 1-4m.

The Xionggu pipeline automatic welding machine will work in the middle section of the 3rd West to East gas pipeline project to contribute to the national energy projects construction. After the project is completed and put into operation, it will effectively alleviate the shortage of natural gas in central and eastern China, which is of great significance to ensure national energy security and improve the guarantee capacity of natural gas supply in Hubei Province.