On February 5, at a construction site in Da Tian Village, Aqi Town, Xichang City, Liangshan Prefecture, excavators worked to form a trench approximately 2 meters deep. This is the construction site for the Panzhihua-Liangshan Natural Gas Pipeline (referred to as the "Pan-Liang Pipeline"). A demonstration section spanning over 300 meters has been completed, marking a significant milestone for the project, which began over two months ago.
The Pan-Liang Pipeline project officially commenced on November 29 last year in Xichang City, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. As a key public welfare and people-focused initiative, the pipeline will effectively address the region's lack of natural gas supply and end Liangshan's history of having no access to piped natural gas.
The construction site in Da Tian Village, located on the west bank of the Anning River, is about an hour's drive from Xichang. Display boards at the site show the pipeline's full route: starting from the Mengliang Distribution Station of the Pan-Mi Pipeline in Yanbian County, Panzhihua City, passing through Miyi County in Panzhihua and Dechang County in Liangshan, and ending at the Xichang Distribution Station in Youjun Town, Xichang City.
Zhang Xiong, a representative from the project owner, Liangshan Lüheng Gas Co., Ltd., stated that the Pan-Liang Pipeline spans 157 kilometers, with 95 kilometers located within Liangshan Prefecture. The completed demonstration section is about 300 meters long. On-site observations show the pipeline buried approximately 1.5 meters underground, backfilled with original soil after installation, with at least 0.3 meters of topsoil restored on the upper layer. To ensure effective land reclamation, excavated soil is strictly separated into subsoil and topsoil piles. After pipeline burial, reclamation is carried out; at the demonstration site, construction workers have already sown rapeseed seeds.
Qin Han, project execution manager of the construction company, China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Third Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., noted that to ensure the orderly progress of this key project, a construction model was established in Aqi Town, detailing each step from land clearing to reclamation.
Nearby, an excavator was operating at a site where surface attachments had already been cleared. Under the operator's control, the excavator arm dug a trench, soon revealing a trapezoidal cross-section—approximately 1.6 meters wide at the bottom and 3 meters wide at the surface. After trench excavation, workers will proceed with pipeline laying, welding, and backfilling.
The 157-kilometer pipeline route crosses mountainous areas, hills, foothills, and farmland, and will pass over highways, national roads, the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, and the Anning River multiple times. According to the overall plan, the project will receive its first batch of pipes in March, with pipeline welding starting by the end of the same month. All construction along the route is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, ensuring the project's overall completion by May 2027.
Once operational, clean and efficient natural gas will flow through this new "artery" to Liangshan, optimizing the region's current energy mix, which relies heavily on electricity and coal. This will significantly reduce gas costs for industrial, commercial, and residential users, improving the quality of life for local residents.