OBERMEYER Infrastructure: Market Leader in Test Track Construction

Location Chongqing, China

Industry Buildings

Client Chang‘an Automobile Co. Ltd.

Chang’an, one of China’s leading manufacturers of cars, lorries and motorcycles, has built its own test track for vehicle development in order to meet the challenges posed by rapidly growing demand for vehicles and increasing customer expectations. OBERMEYER supported the project both in the planning phase and on site.

The site featured a highly undulating topography with elevation differences of up to 80 m. The ground consisted of valley floors filled with clay and hills composed of sandstone rock. Extensive ground improvement measures were required to prevent differential settlement.

A total of 12 million cubic metres of earth was moved, and approximately 40 km of roads with varying surfaces and functions, including utility supply and disposal systems, were planned and constructed. The interventions in the topography required the planning and installation of a comprehensive site drainage system for the approximately 500-hectare site, featuring various rainwater retention basins, to ensure that surface inflow and outflow did not have a lasting impact on the surrounding valleys, which are predominantly used for rice cultivation.

Based on a comprehensive list of requirements, specifications were developed for all test sections in collaboration with the client, and a route layout tailored to users’ needs was devised, alongside an overarching functional concept. A particular challenge lay in the 1:1 translation of real-world damage to public roads, as specified by the user, into permanent special sections.