中文 Contact Us
Home > SOEs News

Main Body of World's Longest Span Railway Suspension Bridge Completed

Updated: 2020-10-23

Two sections of the Jinsha River Grand Bridge of the railway between Lijiang and Shangri-La in Southwest China's Yunnan province were connected on Oct 13, bringing a close to construction of the main body of the world's first large-span railway suspension bridge.

Designed by China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co., Ltd and constructed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (MBEC), both subsidiaries of China Railway Group Limited (CREC), the bridge is 882.5 meters long and has a main span of 660 meters. The bridge deck is about 250 meters above the river, equaling the height of a more than 80-storey building.

According to Wu Xiaotuan, the bridge consists of 71 interval steel trusses, the heaviest of which weighs 640 tons.

MBEC independently developed a cable crane with the world's largest lifting capacity, 800 tons to hoist the trusses.

With an altitude difference between the top of the cable tower and the steel beam assembly yard of 330 meters, the crane has the world's highest sling height.

Equipped with smart security supervision and information management systems, the crane performs well in automation and precision control, supervision, traction, and installation.

In addition, large-tonnage double segment hoisting technology guaranteed safe and fast construction of steel beams in the mountainous area.

As the project is located in the Hutiaoxia, or Tiger Leaping Gorge, a 4A level scenic spot in China, and is surrounded by the Yulong Snow Mountains and the Haba Snow Mountains natural reserves, the construction required limited impact on mountain stability and the environment.

Therefore, the bridge was designed with a rectangular fixed-type foundation, which has smaller basic structure and digging areas under the same pressure. It also has the largest fixed-type foundation of a railway bridge in China.

What's more, the wet spraying devices installed in front of the engineering machines to reduce dust and grass were used efficiently to decrease water and soil loss on the side slopes of the bridge.

Waste produced during construction was transported away immediately, which also contributed to environmental protection.

During the construction, the builders overcame difficulties such as steep slopes, narrow construction sites and the plateau monsoon period. They conquered high security risks and developed several innovative technologies, gaining experience for future railway construction in Southwest China's Sichuan province and the Tibet autonomous region.

With a designed speed of 120 kilometers per hour, the 140-kilometer long railway linking Lijiang and Shangri-La will connect railways linking Dali and Lijiang, Guangtong and Dali as well as Chengdu in Sichuan and Kunming in Yunnan.

Once operable, travel time between Kunming and Shangri-La is expected to shorten to 4 hours and only one hour will be needed to travel from Lijiang to Shangri-La.



(Executive editor: Hao Wen)

Copyright ©  State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council All rights reserved. Presented by China Daily