  This paper reports on the design of wildlife crossing structures (WCSs) along
a new expressway in China, which exemplifies the country's increasing efforts
on wildlife protection in infrastructure projects. The expert knowledge and
field surveys were used to determine the target species in the study area and
the quantity, locations, size, and type of the WCSs. The results on relative
abundance index and encounter rate showed that the ibex (\textit{Capra ibex}),
argali sheep (Ovis ammon), and goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) are the
main ungulates in the study area. Among them, the goitered gazelle is the most
widely distributed species. WCSs were proposed based on the estimated crossing
hotspots. The mean deviation distance between those hotspots and their nearest
proposed WCSs is around 341m. In addition, those 16 proposed underpass WCSs
have a width of no less than 12m and height of no lower than 3.5m, which is
believed to be sufficient for ungulates in the area. Given the limited
availability of high-resolution movement data and wildlife-vehicle collision
data during road's early design stage, the approach demonstrated in this paper
facilitates practical spatial planning and provides insights into designing
WCSs in a desert landscape.
