The eastern and western main towers of the Shiziyang Grand Bridge, a double-deck suspension bridge with the world’s largest main span, were topped out on March 26. The two 342-meter towers have become the highest bridge towers in the Pearl River Estuary.
Shiziyang Grand Bridge is a part of the Shiziyang Link, a transportation project undertaken by Guangdong Communication Group. The Link crosses the tip of the A-shaped Pearl River Estuary and connects Nansha District in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, with Shatian and Humen townships in Dongguan City, thereby contributing to the overall development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Upon completion, the Shiziyang Grand Bridge will set five world records —for main span length, number of lanes, main tower height, anchor diameter and main cable diameter.
Drilling began on April 9, 2023, for the western main tower’s first pile foundation, which is also the first pile foundation of the bridge. The eastern main tower’s first steel shell was installed on April 14, 2024. About a year later, the tower stood 100 meters tall. It reached 200 meters on September 28 and surpassed 300 meters on January 22. After three years of construction, the two main towers were finally completed.
The eastern and western main towers of the Shiziyang Grand Bridge were topped out on March 26. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Double-deck Suspension Bridge with 2,180-meter Main Span
Considering the prosperity of neighboring urban clusters and the busy shipping lines, the construction team chose to build the Shiziyang Grand Bridge into a suspension bridge with a 2180-meter main span and with 16 lanes on double decks, which complies with the concept of green development and meets the needs of long-term planning.
The construction plan’s feasibility was proven by a total of 35 studies, dozens of discussions and multiple reviews by experts, resulting in 85 micro-innovations and 45 patents. A number of technologies and corresponding standards were formed in the process, thereby enabling China to make progress in building an ultra-large suspension bridge.
The Shiziyang Link is the first double-deck road in the Pearl River Estuary. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Smartly Constructed Bridge with Two 342-meter Towers
The two main towers of the Shiziyang Grand Bridge are as high as a 110-floor building. Each has 6 beams and 62 sections of huge steel shells. A steel shell consists of two layers of steel plates, with the inner layer enclosing to form a hollow. Between the two layers are rebar, ribbed slabs and concrete.
The steel shells were made in a factory and transported to the construction site, where a mobile tower crane waited to install them. In the production process, special robots automatically welded shear studs for these shells, achieving fully automatic plate welding.
Smart devices, refined management and upgraded techniques accelerated the construction. It took a year to build the first 100 meters of the towers, six months for the second and just four months for the third. The record was that six sections of steel shells are installed within one day.
The steel shells are assembled in the factory. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The top-out of the two main towers gives Guangdong Communication Group a good start in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period. The construction team will continue to adopt smart manufacturing and advanced technologies during the construction, thereby providing replicable and promotable Guangdong experience for building a suspension bridge with an ultra-large main span and considerably propelling the high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area.
(Executive editor: Zuo Shihan)
