On the morning of March 20th, after almost 4 hours of precise adjustments and locking, the Gaolan Port Bridge of the Huangmaohai Channel Project was successfully closed. This is the first closure of the two main bridges of the Huangmaohai Channel and marks a significant breakthrough in the upper structure construction of the project.
The Huangmaohai Channel is another large-scale cross-sea project in the Greater Bay Area connecting Zhuhai and Jiangmen. The total length of the route is about 31 kilometers, with the cross-sea section consisting of two main bridges: Gaolan Port Bridge and Huangmaohai Bridge. Gaolan Port Bridge adopts a fully floating system with a separated steel box girder structure, with a total of 97 girder sections constructed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group, CCCC Highway Consultants Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
"To ensure the completion of construction safety and quality objectives, we have conducted several discussions and computer simulations. We chose to weld locating plates on the outer web of the steel box girder to fix both ends of the steel box girder and optimized the matching tools and welding sequence. After the adjustment, the construction alignment error within 10 millimeters, achieving high-precision closure," said Shen Dawei, chief engineer of the Huangmaohai Channel Project.
To reduce the structural self-weight and improve aerodynamic performance, the main girder of Gaolan Port Bridge adopts a split steel box girder connected by a crossbeam in the middle, resembling a dumbbell. Therefore, it has the characteristics of "heavy at both ends, light in the middle" and "weak stiffness in the middle". This characteristic poses challenges to deformation control during the hoisting stage.
Gaolan Port Bridge uses parallel steel wires with high strength and low relaxation for the cable-stayed cables. Single-tower and double-cable plane has a total of 92 cable-stayed cables, the longest of which is about 387 meters. The maximum single-weight (excluding anchors) is about 33.4 tons, and the total weight of the single-tower cable-stayed cable is about 1424 tons.
"From the successful erection of the first steel box girder of Gaolan Port Bridge on June 19, 2023, to the closure of Gaolan Port Bridge after 275 days, the project construction personnel have worked tirelessly regardless of the weather," said Zhu Chao, the head of the Huangmaohai Channel Project. Currently, the Huangmaohai Channel Project is progressing smoothly. The main towers of all five Huangmaohai Bridge and Gaolan Port Bridge have been capped, and Gaolan Port Bridge has completed the closure. The Shishan Tunnel and Xiangshan Tunnel have also been opened to traffic. The steel box girders of the East Tower of Huangmaohai Bridge, the Central Tower of Huangmaohai Bridge, and the West Tower of Huangmaohai Bridge have been erected for 30, 21, and 30 sections, respectively. All construction workers are guided by the goal of high-quality construction and strive to complete the main project by the end of the year.
The welding of the Gaolan Port Bridge has been completed.
High-speed rail bridge in Zhuhai sees final steel truss in place.
Image provided by Guangdong Transportation Group
