How to Fight High Temperatures in Full Open Air Operations, Connecting Shanghai and Jiangsu, Another Major Project in Shanghai Starts Liuhe | Bridge | High Temperature

Currently, it has officially entered the summer solstice, and the Yangtze River Delta region has entered scorching heat. At the construction site of the New Liuhe Bridge at the border of Shanghai and Jiangsu, the builders stood firm on the front line and made every effort to promote project construction.

"Skilled Work" in Major Projects Fighting High Temperature

On July 13th, before 6 o'clock, the on-site construction supervisor Shen Tianbao braved the early morning heat and came to the construction site for inspection. Today is a big day on the construction site, and the widening and reconstruction project of the New Liuhe Bridge has officially started. This is an important part of the expansion project of the G15 Shenhai Expressway Jialiu section in Shanghai, and also one of the main channels between Shanghai and the Soviet Union.

At around 6 o'clock, construction workers arrived one after another, wearing work clothes and protective equipment, and skillfully climbed onto the steel wharf that had been pulled out from the Xinliu River. Shen Tianbao told reporters that setting up a steel pier bridge is mainly for the convenience of builders to construct the main pier of the bridge in water, as well as for the convenience of equipment, materials, and personnel entering and exiting.

Photo by Zhang Haifeng, a worker and technician working under high temperature

Under the direct sunlight, the temperature in Shanghai has been rising all the way. If working on land is like "burning iron plates under your feet," then working on a water surface bridge is like "boiling a pot and steaming steamed buns.". At 7:30, the temperature in Shanghai was approaching 32 ℃, and the construction site became stuffy. More than 10 workers were busy walking on the work platform, welding, piling, debugging equipment... In no time, everyone's work clothes were soaked in sweat. At this point, the greenhouse set up at the homework site began to take effect. "If you feel hot and tired, the workers can rest in the cool shed and replenish some water," said Zhu Wenbin, deputy manager of the Shanghai Road and Bridge project of the contractor Tunnel Co., Ltd. The greenhouse on site is not large, but there are all kinds of heat relief and protection tools available, such as mineral water, salt soda, and Huoxiang Zhengqi water. Workers have gradually come in to replenish energy and then put it into new work.

Unlike building projects and tunnel construction, the new Liuhe Bridge renovation and expansion project operates entirely outdoors, which also means that summer will be particularly difficult. Today is the fourth time Shanghai has issued an orange high-temperature warning this year, with the highest temperature during the day exceeding 37 ℃.

Zhu Wenbin told reporters that in the face of continuous high temperature weather, big projects also need to be skillfully executed. On the one hand, avoid hot weather periods and arrange homework time reasonably by doing things at both ends and resting in the middle. After the orange high temperature warning is sounded, workers will rest from the hottest 10 to 15 o'clock.

At the entrance and exit of the construction site, there is also a special container that has become a temporary rest area for workers. The 18 square meter area is not large, but it is equipped with a refrigerator, air conditioning, beverages, and heatstroke prevention medicine. There are also two beds and some seats on site for people to temporarily rest and cool off.

Expansion is imminent, with two cities and one line leading the way

With the first bored pile of the 5th main pier of the New Liuhe Bridge being drilled today, it marks the official start of construction for the widening and reconstruction of the New Liuhe Bridge in the Jialiu section of the G15 Shenhai Expressway.

The New Liuhe Bridge spans across Jiading District in Shanghai and Taicang City in Jiangsu. With the increasing exchanges between Shanghai and Jiangsu, the traffic flow pressure is becoming increasingly prominent. "Our main focus is to expand the existing main bridge and approach bridge of the New Liuhe Bridge," said Zhuang Haiqing, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Jialiu Expressway Construction and Development Co., Ltd. invested by the construction company Tunnel Co., Ltd. The main bridge of the old bridge will be widened by 8 meters to the east and 5.95 meters to the west, and the east and west sides of the approach bridge will be widened by 8 meters each. The width of the new bridge deck will be expanded from 32.5 meters to 49.25 meters, greatly improving the cross-border traffic capacity of vehicles entering and exiting Shanghai and Jiangsu.

Zhu Wenbin told reporters that project construction not only needs to cope with high temperature weather, but also faces complex working conditions. Because Xinliu River is an important navigation channel between Shanghai and Jiangsu, with a large daily flow of ships, construction also needs to ensure the passage of ships and cannot interrupt traffic. The main piers of the newly constructed main bridge are all underwater piers, and the construction of the above water pile foundation, bearing platform, and lower structure is complex, with high construction difficulty and risk.

The project team has demonstrated one by one for more than 10 working conditions, introducing intelligent control methods to accurately control the coordinates and construction quality of the wharf and cofferdam. Measures such as channel lights, collision warning lights, warning ships, and night reflective light strips have also been added to ensure the safety of construction of the wharf, cofferdam, and underwater pier, as well as the navigation safety of ships.

"In the future, we will also integrate on-site construction conditions, box girder structure form, and channel vessel flow, and use BIM modeling technology to assist in cross channel installation step by step," said Zhu Wenbin.

The Shanghai section of the New Liuhe Bridge will be directly connected to the under construction G15 Jialiu section. As the first digital twin smart highway demonstration project in Shanghai, the construction of the G15 Jialiu section is also entering the final stage. After expansion and reconstruction, the new Liuhe Bridge will seamlessly connect with it to the south, and to the north, it will hold hands with the transportation artery connecting the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, the Shanghai Wuhan Shanghai Wuhan Expressway from Taicang to Changzhou, to support and promote the construction of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration.

The New Liuhe Bridge is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024. After completion, it will effectively enhance the level of the expressway network along the G15 expressway and promote the integrated construction of transportation in the Yangtze River Delta.