China: rail engineers swing two halves of arch bridge over road

The China Railway Corporation (CREC) this week swung the two halves of an arched railway bridge into position over a major road.

The two halves of the bridge carrying the Chaoma railway over a major expressway swing into place. Credit: CREC

After rotation, engineers joined the two halves of the bridge. Credit: CREC

CREC cast the two T-beams which make up the 231m bridge parallel to the highway. It then rotated the two halves and closed the middle span. The weight difference between the two sides is about 800t. CREC says this is the world’s first asymmetric continuous arch beam rotation.

The bridge will take the Chaohu–Manshan (Chaoma) intercity railway across the Wuhu-Hefei Expressway (G5011) in Anhui (about 380km west of Shanghai).