KUNMING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Qiubei No. 1 Bridge on the Qiuyan Expressway in southwest China's Yunnan Province has completed all box girder installation, marking the successful conclusion of girder erection for the project's first bridge and a phased breakthrough in superstructure construction, according to China Railway 25th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. on Sunday.
The bridge has 48 box girders in total for its left and right spans. During construction, the project team used a 5G network to transmit high-definition video and sensor data, enabling millisecond-level response for the bridge erecting machine's hoisting, longitudinal and transverse movements. The close coordination of girder transport and erection ensured efficient and precise operation. Intelligent tensioning and grouting technologies were also applied to overcome technical difficulties in prestressed girder construction, consolidating project quality with digital and intelligent means.
In recent days, more than 1,200 workers have been working on the front line of the Qiuyan Expressway, seizing the golden autumn construction window. Multiple working faces for roadbed, bridges and tunnels are under simultaneous construction. Large machinery is operating at full capacity, with roadbed filling and rolling, tunnel face excavation and support, and bridge pier and cap beam pouring proceeding in an orderly manner. The project has successively achieved key milestones, including excavation of the last tunnel face, girder erection of the first bridge, and pouring of the first anti-slide pile.
According to a project manager of China Railway 25th Bureau, the Qiuyan Expressway passes through complex geological conditions, and tunnel construction faces multiple risks such as fault fracture zones and water and mud inrush. The construction site has strengthened dynamic monitoring of surrounding rock, strictly implemented advanced geological forecasts, dynamically optimized support parameters, and strictly controlled the quality and safety of key procedures including initial support and secondary lining. The project has formulated a special holiday construction guarantee plan, coordinated the allocation of personnel, equipment and materials, and optimized on-site shift arrangements. It has also intensified hidden danger inspections in key areas such as tunnels, high-altitude and mechanical operations, and used a cloud-based smart construction site system for real-time data collection and dynamic risk warning, improving emergency response plans and ensuring safety, quality and progress.
Upon completion, the Qiuyan Expressway will end the history of Qiubei County having no expressway access, cutting travel time from Qiubei to Yanshan from 100 minutes to about 40 minutes. It will greatly facilitate travel and goods circulation for people of all ethnic groups along the route, help southeastern Yunnan deepen economic and trade exchanges and cooperation with Guangxi, Guizhou and Vietnam, and vigorously promote regional economic integration.
