This route was a key transportation route into the disaster zone during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, and was referred to as a "lifeline" by rescue workers.[1] On 6 July 2011, it was damaged by mudslides and collapses, including a 400-metre (1,300 ft) stretch which was damaged as a result of the nearby river being diverted by a mudslide.[1]
For the extension to Ceke, a tunnel is being constructed on the 4,000-metre (13,000 ft) pass on the Gansu-Qinghai border near Sunan County.[2]