Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge Completes First Standard Pipe Sections Connection

The first standard tube section of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge in South China's Guangdong province was placed under the sea and connected with the E1 tube after 28 hours of work on July 30.

The project was contracted by China Communications Construction Company Ltd. (CCCC) and the connection engineering was carried out by "Yi Hang Jin An 1" – the world's first immersed tube transport installation ship.

It was the first time the ship had been used in the transportation and installation project of the 165-meter standard pipe section, which confirms progress in China's immersed tunnel construction capacity.

The undersea part of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge is the world's first dual-direction eight-lane steel shell undersea immersed tunnel.

The E2, the first standard tube section of the bridge, weighed 77,000 tons, had a length of 165 meters, and was 46 meters wide and 10.6 meters high.

It's worth mentioning that the shipment of the tube started on the evening of July 28, the first 47-kilometer ultra long-distance floating transportation feat in China.

The navigation system developed by CCCC First Harbor Engineering Company Ltd. played a key role in providing real-time information of the ship's location and speed as well as its waterway surroundings.

After 12 hours of floating transportation, the E2 tube arrived at the operation site six hours ahead of schedule on the morning of July 29. With the dynamic positioning mode, the ship turned around and berthed at the pipe joint installation point.

Processes including mooring and twisted rope moving, tube immersing and hydraulic crimping were smoothly completed and in the early morning of July 30 the E1 and E2 pipe sections were successfully connected.

The connection is a test of the reliable performance of the core equipment for offshore immersed tube projects in China. It is a solution to the construction of future super cross-sea projects.

The first highway bridge connecting Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou as well as Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Jiangyang in the Pearl River Delta, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge consists in part of 32 pipe sections and is scheduled to open to traffic in 2024.

The construction site of the E1 and E2 pipe sections of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The construction site of the E1 and E2 pipe sections of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]