Highway crosses country, bridges nations

However, he said the company felt obliged to provide the best help they could, and live up to Algeria's trust. "They chose us because they thought we could do it, so we also had to believe in ourselves and prove we could do it."

To overcome this difficulty, Ji and his team had to travel for 30 kilometers to find suitable soil for the subgrade.

During Algeria's long rainy season, the moment workers heard thunder, they would drop what they were doing and quickly cover over the soil in order to avoid flooding, Ji said.

"In Europe, a roadbed thicker than 5 meters is considered high. On this project, the fill reaches 44.7 meters at its highest point," he said.

CITIC Construction also made use of advanced Chinese construction technology on the project, including the use of high-modulus asphalt additives to enhance the durability and service life of the road, bridge damping devices to avoid potential disasters, and advanced skills to reinforce the subgrade to ensure the road is able to endure the stresses of heavy usage.

In addition, Ji said that as the highway traverses a national forest and an international wetland conservation area, they built special corridors to allow wild animals to pass safely, as well as wastewater sedimentation ponds to mitigate potential ecological disruption.

The efforts were instrumental in ensuring the preservation of these natural treasures, and exemplified the company's commitment to responsible construction practices that prioritize both environmental conservation and infrastructure development, Ji said.

In this manner, the Chinese approach was adapted to meet European standards, and the implementation of the solutions transformed seemingly insurmountable challenges into opportunities for progress.

What were once dead-end roads hindering development became paths to prosperity, Ji said.