According to incomplete estimates, the construction of China's pipe corridors in the next three years may form a construction scale of one trillion yuan. Since 2015, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development have identified two batches of 25 cities to carry out pilot projects for the central financial support of underground integrated pipe corridors. Since 2016, the construction of underground pipe corridors is bound to grow more steadily.

In the past few years, railway, water conservancy and shantytown renovation projects have become the main force for the steady growth of government investment. Today, the construction of underground pipe corridors is accelerating after the preliminary pilot. This year's target is 2,000 kilometers, and the future may reach 8,000 kilometers, which will require trillions of investment. This topic explains the problems and financing problems in the construction of underground integrated pipe corridors.

With the dual mission of improving urban construction and stimulating economic growth, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has once again “added firewood to fire” for the construction of underground integrated pipe corridors. On June 17, the video conference on the construction of urban underground integrated pipe gallery was held. Chen Zhenggao, Minister of Housing and Construction, requested that the task of starting construction of more than 2,000 kilometers this year be completed.

In 2015, the State Council and relevant departments intensively released the policy dividend for the construction of underground integrated pipe corridors. Chen Zhenggao said at the symposium on the planning and construction of urban underground integrated pipe corridors held on April 10, 2015 that the construction of the pipe gallery has been highly valued by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and the local government has also been highly motivated.

"If we can build a 8,000-kilometer pipe gallery every year, 120 million yuan per kilometer, it is 1 trillion investment." Chen Zhenggao said at the forum. According to the planners of the pipe gallery, "according to incomplete estimates, China may form the above-mentioned construction scale in the next three years."

However, the construction of the corridor tests the local government's ultra-long-term planning ability and interest coordination ability. At the meeting on June 17, Chen Zhenggao respectively requested that "the underground integrated pipe corridor can not be changed once it is built, it cannot be moved, it must be scientifically demonstrated and long-term considerations". "Never build an underground integrated pipe gallery and a pipe gallery. Buried pipeline."

Pipeline planning should be ahead of schedule

Since 2015, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development have identified two batches of 25 cities to carry out pilot projects for the central financial support of underground integrated pipe corridors.

However, on June 17, 167 city officials in charge of the construction of the corridor participated in the meeting, which means that even without the huge subsidies of the central government, more and more cities have joined the construction of the corridor.

According to statistics, the construction of pipe corridors in the “13th Five-Year Plan” period in many provinces is over 200 kilometers. The planning and construction scale of each city is also different. For example, Guangzhou plans to build 72 kilometers, while the pre-planning length of many cities is only about 10 kilometers.

“Some small and medium-sized cities do not have the urgent need to build pipe corridors, but they are also following the trend, resulting in too few pipelines in the corridors. Instead, they waste underground space. Other cities only build pipe corridors in some sections, and they cannot form a systematic network. "The designer of a provincial design institute in Jiangsu Province said.

Chen Zhenggao proposed at the video conference on promoting the construction of urban underground integrated pipe corridors that scientific planning should be carried out. Once the underground integrated pipe corridor is constructed, it cannot be changed and cannot be moved. It must be scientifically demonstrated and considered in the long run.

“I suggest that the integrated pipe gallery should be based on at least 50 years of long-term demand, and reserve sufficient pipe and maintenance space.” The above designers said, “For example, in Jiangsu Province, the construction of pipe corridors can provide electricity, communication, water supply, Pipes for heating and other pipelines are all included in the pipe gallery, and waste collection and industrial pipe management are reserved." "The pipe corridor can only be used in a certain area to better realize its comprehensive benefits." The above designers believe. In the early planning of some first-tier cities, the scope of the corridors was usually limited to one district or one route. In the long run, the integrated corridors could not exert the overall benefits.

On the other hand, this provides an idea for the design of the pipe gallery combined with other municipal facilities. At the 2015 training class symposium, Chen Zhengao proposed that the construction of the pipe corridor in the old urban area should be decided by the combination of repairing the subway, river reconstruction, old district reconstruction and road reconstruction.

Legislative enforcement

On May 26, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the “Opinions on Promoting the Incorporation of Power Pipelines into Urban Underground Integrated Pipe Gallery”, proposing that grid enterprises should actively cooperate with the urban people's government to promote power pipelines. In the area where the pipe gallery has been built in the city, the power lines of the same planned route shall be laid in the pipe gallery.

The Ministry of Housing and Construction and the National Energy Administration have solved a big problem for local governments. In the actual operation of the pipeline entrance corridor, the management unit of the local management is facing vertical management units such as electric power and communication. Especially when facing the central enterprises, the bargaining power of local operating enterprises is very weak.

A person from the State Grid Corporation confirmed that the approval of the power grid construction project will go through the provincial power grid company, involving high-voltage lines and even approval from the head office.

Although Chen Zhenggao requested at the meeting on June 17th to resolutely implement the requirements for all pipelines, it is imperative to build underground integrated pipe corridors while laying pipelines outside the pipe corridors. However, some designers believe that it is necessary to force different pipeline units to enter the corridor by enacting special regulations.

On February 1 this year, the first local regulation that specifically regulates the construction and management of underground integrated pipe corridors - "Regulations on the Administration of Underground Comprehensive Pipe Gallery of Zhuhai Special Economic Zone" was implemented. The Regulations stipulate that pipelines in the built-in pipe gallery area must be connected to the pipe gallery in accordance with the special planning requirements, except for pipelines that cannot be incorporated into the pipe gallery according to relevant technical specifications and standards, and the connecting pipelines between the pipe gallery and external users.

The "Regulations" also stipulate that for pipelines that should enter the pipe gallery, the pipeline unit applies for new pipelines at locations other than the pipe gallery, the planning department does not grant planning permission, the construction department does not permit construction, and the municipal and highway administrative departments do not excavate. Road and road permits.

Similar to the above provisions, it has also appeared in the documents of the construction of the propulsion pipe corridors in some provinces. Most of these documents were issued in the name of the provincial government office.

However, Meng Qinguo, a professor at Wuhan University Law School, believes that the special planning of the integrated corridor passed by the local people's congress is itself a binding legal document. The construction of the corridor belongs to the urban planning category and can be resolved within the scope of the Urban Planning Law. Problems, no separate legislation is required.

Song Zhihong, a member of the expert committee of Beijing Zhongjian Political Research Information Center, said in an article in May this year that the legal relationship of underground space to the state should be established at the level of property law. "In fact, the transfer of underground space use rights allows the owner to obtain Benefit is only a strategy in promoting the forced entry of pipelines. The real intention is to change the underground space 'free allocation' that has been used in the past and the present, causing the pipeline unit's long-term inertia of low-cost trenching, lending space. Increase the cost of buried pipes, and promote the pipeline units to actively cooperate with the pipelines." Song Zhihong wrote.

How to charge

Meng Qinguo said that the Property Law does not stipulate the usufructuary rights of underground space. "I personally also object to the transfer of public goods for compensation, because the cost of land, electricity, and gas will eventually be transmitted to the general public," he said.

However, the use of the corridor will implement a paid mechanism. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, in November 2015, issued the “Guiding Opinions on the Implementation of the System of Paid Use of Urban Underground Integrated Pipe Gallery”, which stipulates that the paid use fee includes entrance fees and daily maintenance fees.

For the pipe gallery construction unit and the pipeline supervisory unit, this involves a cost comparison of individual pipelaying and entry. “The calculation of the construction cost of the integrated pipe gallery and the traditional direct burial, and how the management costs of the pipe gallery are shared, are still in the exploration stage,” said an engineer from a planning and design institute in Shenzhen.

The special debt collection manual of a pipe gallery project in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province shows that starting from 2018, the management of the pipe gallery will start to collect the entrance fee and operating fee, and the net income after completion will reach 1.072 billion yuan, but this specification There is no indication of how the fees charged by the gallery will be shared.

The above-mentioned Shenzhen planning engineer believes that the cost of the corridor can be charged by the proportion of the equipment in the corridor. The calculation factors include the area of the pipeline, the operating efficiency and service scope of the pipeline, the frequency of entering and leaving the corridor, and the mining frequency of the traditional laying pipeline. Wait.

Jin Yongxiang, general manager of Beijing Dayue Consulting Co., Ltd., said in an interview in May this year that “the problem of entrance fees and charges in various places has not been resolved. Basically, it relies on financial commitments. This is a game process, and the entrance fee is high. The owners of the gallery are unwilling to go out, and they have no way to recover the cost. It is not sustainable to rely solely on the financial burden."

The documents for the construction of propulsion pipe corridors issued by Jiangsu and Inner Mongolia provinces stipulate the negotiation fee mechanism. Jiangsu Province also stipulates that government pricing or government guidance prices may be implemented for those who do not have the pricing conditions for both parties.

“I feel that the current situation is that the ministries hope that the localities will explore the issue. The local government hopes that the ministries and commissions will make unified guidance, which will result in two embarrassing situations of mutual dependence,” said the planning engineer in Shenzhen.