Suzhou was designated as one of the country's first 10 pilot areas for construction of underground pipe galleries in April 2015. The pilot program is designed to put urban pipelines and cable lines under effective concentrated management while beautifying the urban landscape above the ground.

Up till now, five pipe galleries of the kind have been completed across the city and three of them, including one in SIP, have partly come into service. As designed, nine kinds of pipelines and cable lines, respectively for power, water, heat and natural gas supply, communications, sewage disposal, cable TV, circulation of reclaimed water and military purposes, will run through them.

"With these underground pipe galleries, the repairmen do not need to excavate the road surface to handle a line fault or lay new lines. The galleries can also protect the lines from weathering," an official at Suzhou Underground Utility Management Office said.

Moreover, each project is equipped with a monitoring center to guarantee its daily operation and prevent fires and other potential disasters.

It is reported that an underground pipe gallery network with a total length of about 193 km is expected to take shape in the city by 2030.