The Formation of the Blown Sand Disaster to the Tarim Desert Highway, Xinjiang, China

The Tarim Desert Highway in Xinjiang, China, the longest one in the world, has a length of 562km, over 80% of which runs across, from north to south, the Taklimakan Desert, one of the largest sand sea in the world. Obviously, the main problem of the road maintenance is the blown sand disaster to the Tarim Desert Highway. The research results show that (1) The physical environment along the Tarim Desert Highway are characterized by strong winds, fine and loose ground materials, different dunes and so on, as provides the dynamical condition and material source for the formation of blown sand disaster to the road and its shelter system. Meanwhile, the cross and section running direction of road and the structure the shelter system, as damage objects, play most important roles in the formation process of blown sand disaster to the highway; (2) The blown sand disaster to the shelter system of the Tarim Desert Highway is original from the drift sands and movable dunes to intrude and the wind erosion and sand deposit caused by the air current changes on the ground in the shelter system. The main damaged object in the Tarim Desert Highway is the shelter system during the present period. The damage forms include wind erosion, sand burying and dune covering.