The China National Highway 110 traffic jam
was a recurring massive traffic jam that
began to form on August 14, 2010, mostly on China National Highway 110 (G110)
and Beijing–Tibet (G6) express way, in Beijing, Hebei and Inner Mongolia.
The traffic jam slowed down Thousands of vehicles for more than 100 kilometers
(60 mi) and lasted for more than ten days many drivers were able to move
their vehicles only 1 km (0.6 mi) per day, and some drivers reported
being stuck in the traffic jam for five days. It is considered to be one of the
longest traffic jams by some media.
AUGUST 14, 2010 IN CHINA NATIONAL HIGH WAY (110 KM)
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Traffic on the China National
Highway 110 had grown 40 percent every year in the previous several years,
making the highway chronically congested. The traffic volume at the time of the
incident was 60% more than the designated capacity.
The cause of the traffic jam was reported to
be a spike in traffic by heavy trucks heading to Beijing, along with National Highway 110's
maintenance work that began five days later. The road construction which
reduced the road capacity by 50% contributed heavily to the traffic jam and was
not due to be completed until mid-September. Police reported that minor
breakdowns and accidents were compounding the problem.
Greatly increased coal production in Inner
Mongolia shipped to Beijing
along this route because of the lack of railway capacity also overloaded the
highway. 602 million tons of coal were mined and shipped in 2009; production
was expected to rise to 730 million tons in 2010. An additional factor is
efforts by overloaded trucks which lack proper paperwork for their cargo to
avoid a coal quality supervision and inspection station on China National Highway
208.
