Record-breaking Chinese bridge made using tech never seen before
What's the story
China has opened the world's longest cable-stayed bridge, the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge, in Jiangsu province. The 10.3km-long structure connects Changzhou and Taizhou cities and lowers travel time from over an hour to just 20 minutes. It is also the first bridge to accommodate an expressway, a normal road, and an intercity railway on a single structure across the Yangtze River.
Innovative features
Unique design of the bridge
The Changtai Yangtze River Bridge is notable for its asymmetrical lower deck, with a railway line on one side and a normal road on the other. This side-by-side traffic layout is a first for large-span bridges. Qin Shunquan, Chief Scientist at China Railway Group and lead designer of the bridge, explained how they overcame engineering challenges to maintain balance in this unique design.
Technological advancements
Engineers invented tools to overcome challenges
The challenges of building the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge prompted engineers to invent their own tools. They developed a satellite-guided tower crane for precise material placement on the bridge towers, and built the world's largest bridge-deck crane to position massive segments with millimeter-level accuracy. The project also included unique features like a foundation capable of withstanding strong currents of the Yangtze River, diamond-shaped steel-concrete towers for stability, and flexible joints that adjusted to temperature changes.
World record
Russia's Russky Bridge dethroned
The Changtai Yangtze River Bridge is now the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, surpassing the previous record-holder, Russky Bridge in Vladivostok, Russia. The latter has a main span of 1,104 meters (3,620 feet) and connects Russky Island to the mainland peninsula. While suspension bridges can be longer than cable-stayed ones, they weren't used for this project due to their unique design requirements.