Accelerating the pace of bridge construction (big data observation) Smart | Bridges | Bridges
Overlooking the Lingdingyang Bridge of the Shenzhong Passage from afar.
Photo by Fu Haiyan
Data mapping: Zhang Fangman
Core Reading
Since the beginning of this year, many bridge projects across the country have accelerated construction, including the Zangke River Bridge, Wumengshan Extra Large Bridge, Lingdingyang Bridge, Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge, Yanji Yangtze River Bridge, Kahalo Jinsha River Bridge, and Tian'e Longtan Extra Large Bridge. Bridges with excellent technology and diverse postures, spanning rivers, lakes, and oceans, connecting canyons and deep ditches, have activated the pulse of economic and social development, and stirred up the resounding footsteps of China's acceleration towards becoming a transportation powerhouse.
In Liupanshui, Guizhou, the Naqing Expressway winds forward like a ribbon embedded in the continuous mountains. With the two control bridge projects refreshing the "progress bar", this expressway connecting the six vertical channels in Guizhou is fully sprinting towards the full opening of the entire line next year.
On the banks of the Zangke River, the magnificent Zangke River Bridge lies horizontally on the river, with the highest distance from the bridge deck to the river surface of 380 meters, ranking 11th among the world's 100 tall bridges. Climbing the main tower of Qinglong Bank, which is equivalent to 88 floors high, the "catwalk" between the two towers hangs in the air, which is truly spectacular. As an important high-altitude operation channel for the construction of the upper structure of the suspension bridge, the installation of the "catwalk" has been completed and passed the acceptance smoothly, pressing the accelerator button for the early completion of the bridge.
40 kilometers away, machines roar and welding spatter. Between Wumeng Mountain and Azhi River, the main bridge with a span of 270 meters, the Wumeng Mountain Extra Large Bridge, is emerging in the steep canyon area. The person in charge of Guizhou Highway Group introduced, "It is expected to complete the lifting of the main arch ring by the end of the year. After completion in July next year, it will become the world's first large-span steel truss concrete composite arch bridge."
Since the beginning of this year, multiple bridge projects across the country have accelerated construction. Crossing rivers, lakes, and seas, traversing canyons, and connecting mountains... Bridges are growing together in the north and south of the Yangtze River, constantly continuing to write new magnificent chapters.
Multiple bridge engineering projects are accelerating construction, and Chinese bridges are moving from "following and running together" to "leading in all aspects"
On the vast Lingding Ocean, bridge towers stand tall and the bridge deck winds into the sea. On April 28th, with the lifting and smooth connection of the last section of steel box girder, the Lingdingyang Bridge of the Shenzhong Channel was officially closed, marking the completion of the entire bridge project.
As one of the key control projects of the Shenzhen Zhongshan Passage, the Lingdingyang Bridge has a total length of 2826 meters, a main span of 1666 meters, and a main tower height of 270 meters. It is the world's largest span steel box girder suspension bridge and the highest bridge in the sea. When it is completed and opened to traffic next year, the Shenzhen China Channel will connect the two sides of the the Pearl River like a rainbow lying on a wave, and become the traffic backbone supporting the development of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area.
Bridges span the sea and oceans, connecting the rivers and rivers. Looking at the thousands of miles of the Yangtze River, downstream in Jiangsu, the Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge connects Suzhou, Taizhou, and Nantong cities, with a total length of 7859 meters across the river. Among them, the main span of the Nanhang Road Bridge is 2300 meters.
At present, the construction of bored piles for the South Central North section of the approach bridge is being comprehensively carried out, and once completed, it will become the world's largest span suspension bridge; Going upstream against the current, in the middle reaches of Hubei, the foundation of the towers on both sides of the Yanji Yangtze River Bridge, the world's largest under construction double-layer suspension bridge, has been completed. It is expected to achieve the top of the bridge towers in April next year
Turning to the west, construction is equally hot. The Sichuan Kahalo Jinsha River Bridge has multiple world technological innovations in suspension bridges. The tower construction has been completed and will become the main channel connecting the Sichuan Yangtze River Expressway and Yunnan Dayong Expressway in the future. About 6 kilometers upstream of the Longtan Hydropower Station in Guangxi, the Tian'e Longtan Extra Large Bridge is heading towards its goal of opening to traffic by the end of the year. After completion, it will surpass the world's largest concrete arch bridge and enter a new stage of 600 meter arch bridges.
Since the beginning of this year, new records or breakthroughs have been continuously written into the history of world bridges, making China Bridge a beautiful business card that showcases China's strength.
According to data from the Ministry of Transport, there are currently 8 suspension bridges in China among the top 10 in the world, of which 5 are under construction; Among the top ten cable-stayed bridges in the world, there are 9 in China, of which 4 are under construction; Among the top ten arch bridges in the world, there are 8 in China, of which 2 are under construction.
"After years of learning, reference, and innovation, China's bridges have developed a complete set of design, construction, and manufacturing technologies and domestically produced equipment that meet the needs of 'crossing mountains, crossing seas, and entering cities'. The engineering scale and technical level have reached the world's leading level, and are moving from' following and running in parallel 'to' leading in all aspects'," said the relevant person in charge of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport.
Continuously breaking through bridge construction technology and accelerating the goal of building a safe, intelligent, and green bridge power
Behind the fruitful achievements of large-scale bridge engineering, from plains to mountains, from rivers to the open sea, is the continuous breakthrough of bridge construction technology in China.
"China's highway and bridge construction has basically achieved standardized design, industrial manufacturing, assembly construction, and information control, and the durability and service life of bridges have generally improved." The relevant person in charge of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport stated that aiming at the development goals of safety, intelligence, and green, the construction of a strong bridge country is accelerating.
At the construction site of the main tower on the south bank of the Yanji Yangtze River Bridge project in Hubei, an integrated intelligent tower building crane suspended at high altitude surrounds the bridge tower. On the aerial circular platform, engineering personnel are working intensively. "The tower crane integrates a low-level support system and a double-layer intelligent maintenance system, allowing workers to operate smoothly even in strong wind conditions at a height of 100 meters." Luo Hang, the chief engineer of the China Communications Second Navigation Bureau project, said that the bridge piers and tower columns are currently growing at a rate of 10 days per section, and it is expected to achieve the top sealing of the main tower on the south bank by the end of the year.
Nowadays, intelligence is accelerating its extension to multiple stages of bridge construction. In the survey and design phase, the land survey based on Beidou has achieved centimeter level accuracy and achieved visualization based on 3D geological BIM technology, steadily improving the level of survey and design; During the construction phase, a batch of intelligent equipment such as steel structure intelligent production lines, multifunctional intelligent tower cranes, and welding robots have been successfully developed and put into use, greatly enhancing the bridge construction capacity.
The driving force of wisdom is becoming more powerful, and the green background is becoming more vivid.
The Wumengshan National Geopark, with its high mountains and deep valleys, as well as the competitive flow of rivers, is a unique landscape wonder that has become a huge challenge for the construction of the Zangke River Bridge. Adjacent to the reservoir, the nearest construction point has a straight-line distance of 300 meters, making soil and water conservation, soil restoration, and greening extremely difficult.
"Reducing interference is the greatest protection," said the project leader. At the construction site, nearby, sprinkler and sweeping vehicles shuttle back and forth, with almost no visible construction dust; In the distance, intelligent environmental monitoring devices achieve dynamic monitoring of dust and noise; Farther away, the soil cover greening project is being carried out simultaneously.
The number of bridges is increasing, and their gold content is also constantly increasing. As of the end of 2022, China has 1.033 million highway bridges with a total length of approximately 85.76 million linear meters, including 8816 super large bridges with a total length of approximately 16.21 million linear meters. The Shenzhen Zhongshan Passage, which will be opened in 2024, is another cross sea cluster project that integrates bridges, islands, tunnels, and underwater interchanges, following the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge. It will achieve comprehensive breakthroughs in all offshore suspension bridges, intelligent manufacturing of steel structures, and intelligent pouring of concrete.
"Bridge engineering will generally follow the development path of safety, reliability, longevity, high quality and efficiency, advanced intelligence, and green and low-carbon, further innovating and breaking through bridge engineering technology and equipment, and playing an important role in building a modern highway infrastructure network." The relevant person in charge of the Public Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport stated.
Effectively improving travel conditions, driving people along the route to increase income and become prosperous, and better promoting economic and social development
As a key node and hub of transportation infrastructure, a large number of large-scale highway bridge projects spanning rivers, lakes, seas, deep mountains and canyons are effectively improving travel conditions, driving people along the route to increase income and wealth, and better promoting economic and social development.
Accelerate regional connectivity and activate economic development efficiency.
After the completion of the Zangke River Bridge in Guizhou, the distance between the two sides of the river will be shortened from 1 hour to 1 minute, forming a fast channel between Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guangxi, injecting vitality into regional economic development; After the completion of the Yanji Yangtze River Bridge in Hubei, Ezhou Huahu Airport can directly connect to highways such as Wuhan Hubei and Daguang to the north through the bridge. Within 15 minutes, it can reach Huanggang City from Huahu Airport, accelerating the turnover and distribution of goods; After the opening of the Shenzhen Zhongshan Expressway, it will work together with channels such as the Humen Bridge, Nansha Bridge, and Guangzhou Shenzhen Expressway to link the urban agglomeration of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area into a chain, constructing a new pattern of the one hour economic circle in the Greater Bay Area
Faced with complex terrains such as rivers, lakes, seas, mountains, and canyons, bridges rely on their strong crossing ability to break through geographical barriers in space, and build fast passages across regions through road network connectivity. By improving the convenience of human and logistics information flow in urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas, they accelerate regional resource integration and economic coordinated development.
Improve regional transportation conditions and enhance the happiness of the people.
The numerous river and river crossing bridges have rewritten the history of some regions only being able to ferry by boat, and have also created important opportunities for close regional economic and trade exchanges, information flow, and talent exchange. It is reported that since the implementation of the "cable to bridge" plan by the Ministry of Transport, convenient bridges, safety bridges, and wealth bridges spanning high mountains and canyons have been built, which have completely solved the problem of 7 provinces, 1168 administrative villages, and 1.65 million mountain residents having to rely on cable transportation, greatly improving the travel conditions in rural areas and providing strong support for promoting rural revitalization.
"In the future, bridge construction will also play a greater role in promoting complementary upgrading of industrial structures and leading the development of related industries." Wang Rengui, Deputy General Manager of China Communications Highway Planning and Design Institute, said that most bridges span water bodies and rely on natural advantageous resources such as riverside, Tongjiang, Dahai, and Lingang. batches of high-quality industrial parks, logistics parks, distribution centers, etc. will take root in advantageous locations with the help of bridges. The rapid and intensive development of industries will also lay a solid foundation for building a modern infrastructure system.
The ten thousand bridges cross the river and the sea, and the land of China is covered with flying rainbows. The new picture of the great changes in the mountains and rivers will continue to be written.
