At an altitude of over 100 meters, a massive steel platform slowly "grows" around a bridge tower, with processes such as concrete distribution, curing, and lifting unfolding in an orderly assembly line—this is not a scene from a sci-fi movie, but the real working scenario of the "Integrated Platform for Bridge Tower and High Pier Construction Operations" (abbreviated as "Tower Building Machine"), independently developed by China State Construction Third Engineering Bureau. Like a climbing "airborne Transformer," it can safely and steadily ascend with equipment and workers at the touch of a button.

The "Three Highs" Dilemma of High-Altitude Construction

Construction of ultra-high structures such as bridge towers and high piers has long faced industry pain points of "high risk, high difficulty, and low efficiency."

Traditional construction relies on processes like hydraulic climbing formwork, requiring workers to operate exposed at heights of hundreds of meters, posing extreme safety risks. The construction platform has a single function, with processes such as concrete distribution, curing, and formwork installation and removal carried out separately, leading to low efficiency. Moreover, bridge towers often feature a tapered shape, thicker at the base and narrower at the top, making it difficult for traditional platforms to adapt and fit precisely, compromising construction accuracy.

How to make high-altitude construction as safe, efficient, and precise as a ground factory? This has been a core challenge plaguing the bridge construction industry for decades.

Cross-Industry Innovation from "Building Machine" to "Tower Building Machine"

In 2016, inspired by the "airborne building machine" in the super high-rise building sector, the R&D team of China State Construction Third Engineering Bureau pioneered the nation's first "Overall Adaptive Intelligent Jacking Bridge Tower Platform," expanding intelligent construction integrated platform technology from super high-rise buildings to large-scale bridges. In June 2026, this equipment made its debut under the name "Integrated Platform for Bridge Tower and High Pier Construction Operations" at the 17th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum, earning the nickname "Airborne Transformer."

"One-Key Jacking": Making Hundred-Meter High-Altitude Construction Feel Like Walking on Flat Ground

The core technology of the platform is "one-key jacking"—the operator simply presses a button in the control room, and the platform smoothly "grows" upward, carrying complete sets of equipment for curing, concrete distribution, and lifting. Compared to traditional climbing formwork construction, it features one-key start, synchronized jacking, automatic leveling, and real-time monitoring, ensuring safety, stability, precision, and efficiency.

More critically, the platform can automatically adapt to the tapered shape of the bridge tower, fitting tightly against the tower column. For cases with significant changes in the cross-section and inclination of the cable tower, a unique sliding beam device is designed, enabling self-adjustment even as the tower's thickness, width, and inclination continuously vary.

Airborne "Vertical Mobile Factory": Multi-Process Assembly Line Operations

The platform is not a simple scaffold but an "airborne 3D printer" surrounding the tower column. It integrates all traditionally scattered processes—formwork installation, rebar binding, concrete pouring, and curing—into a single fully enclosed platform that can automatically climb. Inside, the platform incorporates advanced equipment such as intelligent concrete distributors and automatic concrete vibrators, allowing processes like concrete distribution, curing, and lifting to proceed in an assembly line with real-time monitoring. Workers operate within it "as if on flat ground," making high-altitude construction as safe and efficient as a ground factory.

Intelligent "Operating System": Beidou + 5G Enabling Cloud-Based Control

The R&D team of China State Construction Third Engineering Bureau has utilized cutting-edge technologies such as Beidou positioning, remote sensing, and human-machine interaction, using the project's 3D model as a blueprint to create the "operating system" of the Tower Building Machine—the Bridge Intelligent Construction Cloud Platform.

This platform acts like a "live broadcast television station," providing comprehensive, unobstructed visualization of the real-time status of bridge tower construction, enabling remote control even when not on-site. The project also applies 5G tower crane equipment in bridge tower construction for the first time in the industry, allowing operators to remotely control multiple tower cranes simultaneously.

Continuous Iteration: Three Major Upgrades of the New Generation Tower Building Machine

From its debut on the Yichang Wujiagang Yangtze River Bridge to its application on the Jingzhou Libu Yangtze River Rail-cum-Road Bridge, the Tower Building Machine has undergone continuous iteration. The new generation lightweight intelligent Tower Building Machine features three major upgrades:

Faster: With an assembly rate of 90%, it can be pre-assembled on the ground like building blocks, reducing installation time by 30%

More Integrated: Equipped with intelligent concrete distribution robots, fully enclosed intelligent curing, mass concrete temperature control, digital twin systems, and other hardware and software, improving work efficiency by over 30% compared to previous versions

Smarter: The Bridge Intelligent Construction Cloud Platform enables full-process cloud-based control

From River-Crossing Bridges to High-Pier Highways

Super Projects Already Implemented

This equipment has been successfully applied in multiple national-level super projects:

Yichang Wujiagang Yangtze River Bridge (155-meter ultra-high bridge tower): The world's first "Tower Building Machine" made its debut here, rising over 100 meters in 8 months

Jingzhou Libu Yangtze River Rail-cum-Road Bridge (215.5-meter cable tower, equivalent to the height of a 70-story skyscraper): The new generation Tower Building Machine helped cap the main tower at a pace of completing one tower column section every 7 days

Lugou River Extra-Large Bridge on the Chongqing-Hunan Expressway Second Line: Verified the platform's adaptability in high-pier construction of highway projects

Broad Application Prospects

This equipment is not only suitable for river-crossing bridge towers but can also be extended to the construction of various tall structures such as high piers and chimneys.

As China's transportation infrastructure continues to extend into mountainous and canyon areas, the demand for high-pier, long-span bridge construction is growing. By the end of 2025, the Tower Building Machine equipment of China State Construction Third Engineering Bureau had obtained 12 national patents and 6 software copyrights, leading the industry in achieving full-chain intelligent construction processes. Its core technologies have also been documented in papers, construction methods, and patents both domestically and internationally, making it a leading intelligent construction equipment in the industry.

Significance for Industry Transformation

This airborne "Transformer" brings more than just efficiency gains—it significantly reduces the number of workers required for high-altitude operations, lowers safety risks, and improves construction precision from the "centimeter level" to the "millimeter level." It has propelled China's bridge tower construction from the traditional model of "manpower tactics + high-altitude adventure" into a new phase of "factory-based, intelligent, and minimally manned" operations.

As demonstrated by the R&D team of China State Construction Third Engineering Bureau: the Tower Building Machine, born from the inspiration of the "Building Machine," is accelerating China's bridge construction from "building" to "intelligent manufacturing."