Chongqing- As part of a series of vlogs covering mega transportation projects, iChongqing reporter James Alexander takes you on an exclusive tour of the Baijusi Yangtze River Bridge that will link the districts of Dadukou and Ba'nan, and demonstrates the status of China as a transportation superpower.
Baijusi Yangtze River Bridge is a road-rail dual-purpose steel truss cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 660m, and now takes its place as the largest such bridge in the world. The main tower reaches a height of 236m, meaning the structure is also the tallest of its kind in Chongqing.
The main bridge has steel truss girders divided into 93 sections with an inverted trapezoidal configuration, each of which is 15 meters in length, weigh about 500 tons, and are linked through 1.1 million sets of high-strength bolts. The 38 meter wide upper deck will hold a 8-lane two-way urban expressway, while a 19.2 wide lower deck will be used for the river crossing of future rail transit line 18.
About 1.1 million sets of high-strength bolts have been used for whole bridge, with a total steel truss weight of about 44,300 tons, exceeding the total steel consumption of the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing.
The bridge cable tower adopts the spatial multi-curved shape of a water drop inspired by Chongqing, a city of mountains and rivers, and where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers converge.
As well as conforming to the water culture theme of Chongqing, the bridge design symbolizes the spirit of strength through unity, and will bring prosperity to the city whilst enriching the people.