A cutter-suction robot was used to collect soil underwater at the construction site of the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge in East China's Jiangsu province, the world's longest-span railway-highway dual-use cable-stayed bridge, on Aug 19.
It was the first time a smart robot had been used in such an operation, which solves traditional machines' problem of soil collection in blind areas and realizes a controllable, measurable and visible sinking process.
The safe and high-efficient operation was a milestone of large-scale sink infrastructure construction.
Moreover, the smart suction machines can operate more smoothly than traditional models in the silty clay layer.
The two innovative machines – a smart crawler-type and a gantry-type cutter-suction robot – were developed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. and were used in the construction of the open caisson of the No. 6 pier, a new type stepped underwater caisson with the largest plan view size of its kind in China.
A view of the smart cutter-suction used in construction of the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangsu [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
An aerial view of the construction site of the No. 6 pier of the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
