China’s scenic Yunnan province is set to open a record-breaking single-tower, single-span suspension bridge that passed its vital load test on Monday, July 18, as per state media reports.
Stretching 798 meters over a river valley, Lvzhijiang Bridge is a 798 meters long bridge, stretching over a river valley. ts mere length may not sound all that extreme as compared to some of the world’s longest bridges, however, the complexity of the project is earning it recognition as an engineering marvel.
Its construction commenced in 2019 and was expected to complete in three years.
Vital Load test of the bridge
The eight-day vital load test of the Lvzhijiang Bridge started on July 11 which involved trucks carrying up to 1,280 tonnes (1,411 tons) of cargo driving back and forth continuously over the bridge.
The passing of this test marked a massive milestone for the infrastructure project which would improve the connection between China and Southeast Asia.
Features of the Lvzhijiang Bridge
The bridge hangs above Lvzhijiang (literally translated as “Green Juice River”) and protrudes from tunnels that emerge from steep mountain faces on each side of the valley.
It is the world’s first single-tower, a single-span suspension bridge that is only held up by one tower and supported by cables at both of its ends with no additional column, giving it its remarkable, gravity-defying look.
Due to the area’s rocky landform, all of the main supporting elements of the bridge, including the 156-meter-high tower, the bridge approach slab on one end of the structure and the world’s steepest 54-degree angled tunnel anchorage on the other end of the structure, are all built upon steep slopes.
While talking to Chinese state media, the project manager told that “the height difference between the bridge deck and the assembly yard is 320 meters high, or about 100 stories high … the complexity of this project is rarely seen in China.”
The maximum speed limit on the bridge is 100 kilometers per hour.
Significance of the Bridge
Along with connecting China to Southeast Asia, the bridge will provide the following links to Yunnan province:
- The bridge links neighboring Yuxi City and Yunnan’s Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, dramatically shortening the journey time.
- The bridge will also form part of a new 200 km (124 miles) expressway through Yunnan which is part of the country’s Belt and Road Initiative, designed to improve connections with 140 other countries
- will improve the passage to countries including Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos