Main Tower of World's First Cross-Sea High-Speed Railway Bridge Capped

The main tower of the Quanzhou Bay cross-sea bridge of the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway in Southeast China's Fujian province was capped on Sept 15.

Designed by China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited, the bridge is the world's first large-span cable-stayed bridge for a cross-sea high-speed railway, its first cross-sea large-span bridge with designed speed of 300 kilometers per hour, its first large-scale cross-sea project built with coating-free weathering resistance steel and its fourth large-span cross-sea bridge.

It was also the first railway cable-stayed bridge completely built with steel-concrete girders. The main girder has a streamlining box-shape structure that reduces vibration caused by the wind.

The coating-free materials make the bridge environmentally friendly and long-lasting in a climate of strong winds, deep water, huge waves and large tidal range as well as high salinity and humidity.

The nickel anti-corrosion steel as well as the supportive high-strength bolt and welding materials used during construction were jointly developed by China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd. and the Steel and Iron Research Center of Ansteel Group.

Unlike other railway bridges, the Quanzhou Bay bridge has no supports, which shortened the offshore engineering period and reduces post-maintenance. That aspect of the structure was also a first in China's railway construction.

It's worth mentioning that the bridge was designed with ocean elements. For example, it has a shell-shape curve tower, making its shape practical and at the same time beautiful.

A view of the Quanzhou Bay cross-sea bridge of the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway in Fujian [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The cross-sea bridge of the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway in Fujian has many "firsts" in railway bridge construction in China. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)