Management Mode Study Of Maintenance And Operation For The Utility Tunnel System In The Qingdao High-tech Zone

In recent years, the repeated excavation on the roads becomes very common becauseof the pipeline expansion, renovation, and maintenance under the rapid developmentof the municipal utility tunnel system. This situation causes inconvenience to people’snormal lives resulting in environmental pollution, noise disturbance as well as thesignificant increment of social cost regarding damage of crossed pipelines, urbantraffic congestion, the loss of commercial interests, etc., which has also become abottleneck restricting the development of urban infrastructure construction andenvironmental improvement. In this context, the underground Integrated PipelineSystem has been recognized and promoted gradually as a new and effective model toresolve contradictions in the construction of urban infrastructures.The utility tunnel system is the urban underground corridor of containing combinedpipelines, i.e., an underground tunnel in the city is to be built to collect public servicepipelines into the space varied from water, electricity, gas, heat, and communicationsto miscellaneous types of municipal pipelines with the accessible small-sizemachineries and manpower. Qingdao High-tech Industrial Development Zone is ademonstration area of large-scale application of the utility tunnel system comparingwith other cities in China, who is also the model of domestic promotion for the utilitytunnel system. The article summarizes the experience and shortcomings of the utilitytunnel system application in the new city development on the basis of the physicalperformance in the Qingdao High-tech Zone, and strives to explore suitable andreasonable maintenance operations, management models and institutionalmechanisms by means of practice. Meanwhile, it tries to probe into the innovation ofpublic service institutional mechanism with the core of the utility tunnel system application.Regarding the maintenance and management operation for the utility tunnel system inthe Qingdao High-tech Zone, the article adopts the methods of Theory Combines withPractice, Case Studies, and a combination of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis;borrows the advanced domestic and foreign experience of maintenance andmanagement operations, illustrates varied pointes from the construction and financing,working mechanism of maintenance and management, system processes, performanceassessment, financial system, cost-and-income accounting to fee charges; summarizesthe experience, shortcomings and urgent issues to be solved during the practicalmanagement for the utility tunnel system in the Qingdao High-tech Zone.The utility tunnel system is undoubtedly the more reasonable, convenient andeconomical new model in municipal infrastructure development compared to currenttraditional mode of direct buried pipelines. However, there still needs sufficient andcomplete laws, regulations and policy guidance for maintenance operations andmanagement of the utility tunnel system with respects to property ownership,appropriate legislation, design and construction standards, fees charges and the like.The inconvenience has been caused by the aforesaid for the extensive promotion ofthe utility tunnel system. In the Qingdao High-tech Zone，the future maintenance andoperational management should be established on the regulation accomplishment,innovative institutional mechanisms, and the reliable local practice. The localgovernment has a long way to go in this regard.