Asia' s longest railway bridge nears completion

Construction of the Hongqili Water Lane Bridge, a segment of Nansha Port Railway in South China' s Guangdong province, is expected to be completed by Aug 20.

The bridge, spanning 998 meters and looking like a blue dragon lying over the river, will replace the Nanjing Dashengguan Yangtze River Bridge as the longest railway bridge in Asia when finished.

Construction of the bridge is in full swing.[Photo/gznsnews.com.cn]

The construction maintains a positive momentum of high efficiency and quality, though faced with various challenges.

" In the building processthe state of the bridge is constantly changing, which calls for much more accuracy of each part' s installation, " said Cheng Shiyu, a project leader from China Railway Sixth Group Co, Ltd.

Builders adjust the butted position promptly all the time to make sure that any error is limited to within three millimeters.

In addition, the unpredictable weather exacerbates the difficult construction.

The bridge looks like a blue dragon over the Hongqili water lane. [Photo/gznsnews.com.cn]

" Typhoons occur frequently these days. The wind speed and temperature could also affect the construction,"  added Cheng.

A monitor system was set to help to inform workers with specific weather data in time so that they could take corresponding measures.

The new design of the bridge deck is praiseworthy, as itreducedthe bridge’s deadweight by nearly 17 percent, saving a total of 90 million yuan ($13.04 million).