Travel in the scenic Chinese province of Yunnan is about to get a little easier – and more exciting – with the world’s first single-tower, single-span suspension bridge, due to open next month.
Stretching 798 meters over a river valley, the length of the Lvzhijiang bridge may not seem all that extreme when compared to some of the longest bridges in the world. But the design’s complexity is gaining recognition as an engineering marvel.
The bridge hovers above Lvzhijiang (literally translated as “River of Green Juice”) and juts out from tunnels that emerge from the steep slopes of mountains on either side of the valley.
Officials say the bridge breaks several world records.
Built in a V-shaped mountain valley, it is the world’s first single-span, single-tower suspension bridge; it is only supported by a tower and is supported at both ends by cables. There are no additional columns, giving it a dramatic gravity-defying look.
The bridge’s single span – the distance between two supports – is 780 meters. In addition, officials say it has the steepest tunnel anchorage in the world, with an angle of 54 degrees.
Due to the rugged landscape of the area, all the main supporting elements – the 156-meter tall tower, the bridge approach slab at one end of the structure and the tunnel anchor at the other end of the structure – are built into slopes.
The project manager told Chinese state media that “the height difference between the bridge platform and the assembly yard is 320 meters high, or about 100 floors… The complexity of this project is rarely seen in China.”
The bridge links the neighboring city of Yuxi and Yunnan’s Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture and will drastically reduce travel time.
The maximum speed limit on the bridge is 100 kilometers per hour.
With construction starting in 2019, the project took around three years to complete. It is expected to open to traffic at the end of April 2022.
Connecting Yunnan to the Rest of China
Although Yuxi City (famous for tobacco production) and Chuxiong – an autonomous region of the Yi ethnic people famous for its dinosaur museum – are not considered popular tourist destinations, the two areas are located in the heart of Yunnan Province, between large cities like Kunming and Dali.
The Lvzhijiang Bridge is a key section of the 190-kilometer-long Yuchu Expressway and Yunnan’s 9,000-kilometer road network.
The Yuchu Expressway links Yunnan to other major national expressways such as the Hangzhou-Ruili Expressway (a western Yunnan city on the border with Myanmar) and the Guangzhou-Kunming Expressway.
Building superlative highways isn’t the only engineering feat that China’s western province has achieved in recent months. A new China-Laos high-speed railway opened in October 2021.
Source: CNN Brasil
