A "new era" for bridges! The world's largest span arch bridge, Tian'e Longtan Bridge, is completed and opened to traffic

On February 1, the world's largest span rigid skeleton concrete arch bridge, the Tian'e Longtan Bridge on the Nandan-Tian'e Xia Lao Expressway, was completed and opened to traffic. This is the world's first arch bridge with a span of over 600 meters.

Image source: Xinhua News Agency

The Tian'e Longtan Bridge is located 6 kilometers upstream of the Longtan Dam in Tian'e County, Hechi City, spanning the Hongshui River. It is 2,488.55 meters long. The main bridge is a top-bearing rigid skeleton concrete arch bridge with a calculated span of 600 meters, four lanes in both directions, and a designed speed of 100 kilometers per hour. By the end of 2022, the Nandan section to the Tian'e section of the Nantian Expressway will be open to traffic. Today, the Tian'e Longtan Bridge has been completed and opened to traffic, marking the completion of the entire Nantian Expressway .

A new era of bridges

Achieve "Six Major Breakthroughs"

The height of a house is measured, and the span of a bridge is measured. The main span length of a bridge is an important indicator of the bridge's technical level and construction capacity. The larger the span, the greater the corresponding construction difficulty.

The bridge is the world's largest span rigid skeleton arch bridge. When completed, it surpassed the Pingnan Third Bridge in Guangxi (main span of 575 meters) to become the new "world's first arch bridge", opening a new era of 600-meter-class arch bridges in the world and achieving six major breakthroughs:

First, the main span is larger. The Tian'e Longtan Bridge is the world's first arch bridge with a span exceeding 600 meters.

Second, the Tian'e Longtan Bridge is a top-bearing rigid skeleton concrete arch bridge, and the construction process has added links such as outsourced concrete pouring, which has a higher technical content;

Third, considering the requirements of shipping and environmental protection, the bridge chose a rigid skeleton concrete arch bridge scheme, which can save 120 million yuan in engineering investment compared with the cable-stayed bridge scheme;

Fourth, as a top-supported rigid skeleton concrete arch bridge without hangers, the bridge is more convenient for later maintenance;

Fifth, the bridge does not require painting and the welding requirements are relatively low, which is more environmentally friendly;

Sixth, the entire process of the Tian'e Longtan Bridge, from project establishment, supervision, scientific research, planning, investment to design, construction, monitoring, supervision, and operation and maintenance, was hosted or led by the local team in Guangxi, making the "industry-university-research" cooperation more localized.

Netizen: China’s infrastructure is amazing!

After the full opening of the bridge, the driving time from Pojie Township to Xiangyang Town was shortened from 2 hours to about 20 minutes, and the driving time from Nandan County to Xia Lao Township in Tian'e County was shortened from three and a half hours to about one and a half hours, effectively opening up the "main artery" of transportation between Guangxi and Guizhou provinces, and promoting Tian'e County to integrate into Nanning's 3-hour economic circle and Guiyang's 2-hour economic circle, improving the transportation of agricultural and sideline products and personnel exchanges in the areas along the line, effectively improving local people's livelihood, and creating new opportunities for the development of the areas along the line.

Comprehensive sources: Xinhua News Agency, Guangxi Daily, Nanning Radio and Television Station, etc.