en.Wedoany.com Reported - On the afternoon of May 15, with the installation of the final closure segment on the south bank deck completed, the Zhijiang Yangtze River Bridge in Yichang, China was officially closed. Once the bridge opens to traffic within this year, Bailizhou in Zhijiang—the largest river island in the middle reaches of the Yangtze—will bid farewell to its reliance solely on ferries for crossing the river, and the travel time between the two banks will be just 5 minutes.

"On the day the royal army recaptures the Central Plains, do not forget to tell your father when making offerings at home." On May 15, 50-year-old Bao Haiyan stood on the deck of the Zhijiang Yangtze River Bridge, gazing at the mighty river with tears in her eyes. "The bridge at Bailizhou is closed. I want to tell my father, so he can rest in peace."

Bailizhou is the largest river island in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, covering an area of 212 square kilometers. Although its closest point is only over 800 meters from the urban shore of Zhijiang, tens of thousands of residents could only rely on ferries to cross the river.

Bao Haiyan is a native of Bailizhou, Zhijiang, and currently works in the urban area of Zhijiang. Every week, she takes a ferry back to Bailizhou to visit her mother, a trip that takes an hour each way.

Building a bridge has been the long-cherished hope of local residents for decades.

In November 2021, the first stake for boundary survey was driven for the Zhijiang Yangtze River Bridge. At that time, Bao Haiyan brought her father to the site. "My father was very excited and talked at length, making a pact with me to come and visit often." Unfortunately, fate was unkind, and her father passed away the following year.

On the day of the bridge closure, Bao Haiyan visited the bridge as a resident representative, fulfilling a wish on behalf of her father.

The Zhijiang Yangtze River Bridge is a key control project for the Dangyang-Zhijiang-Songzi Expressway in Hubei Province. Starting from Jinshan Avenue, Majiadian Subdistrict Office, Zhijiang City, Yichang in the north, and ending at Baimasi Village, Bailizhou Town in the south, the bridge has a total length of 1,549 meters and a main span of 890 meters. It features six lanes in both directions, a design speed of 120 km/h, and a south bank main tower height of 257.5 meters. It is currently the world's largest span steel-UHPC composite girder cable-stayed bridge under construction. The bridge is invested by Hubei Communications Investment Group and jointly constructed by Sichuan Road and Bridge Group of Shudao Group and CCCC Second Highway Engineering Co., Ltd.

The Zhijiang Yangtze River Bridge consists of 91 girder segments, with the heaviest weighing nearly 600 tons. These had to be precisely hoisted and assembled over the Yangtze River, avoiding passing ships while coping with variable water conditions and the challenges of wind, rain, and weather.

To address this, the constructor CCCC Second Highway Engineering Co., Ltd. developed a new type of lightweight deck crane to improve hoisting efficiency and precision. They also innovatively applied the BeiDou intelligent monitoring system and 3D digital pre-assembly technology to monitor the bridge's shape and stress data in real-time, 24 hours a day, making the entire construction process visible, predictable, and controllable. Under the precise "navigation" of the intelligent monitoring system, the bridge closure accuracy reached 5 millimeters, far exceeding the 20-millimeter qualification standard.

"To meet the diverse travel needs of the people of Bailizhou, we have set up a 4.5-meter-wide slow-traffic system on both sides of the bridge," said Yan Shaobo, Deputy General Manager of the construction party, Hubei Jiaotou Yichu Construction Company. He noted that while this measure increased the difficulty of bridge structural design and construction, it benefits the public on both banks by enabling better travel and sharing the fruits of transportation development. After the bridge opens, the river crossing time for people on both banks will be reduced from several hours to just 5 minutes, while also smoothing the distribution channels for Bailizhou's specialty agricultural products like sand pears and cotton.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first expressway bridge in Hubei Province to be equipped with a pedestrian slow-traffic system. Pedestrians can access the bridge from Township Road 129 via stairs or vertical elevators, while non-motorized vehicles can access it from Township Road 121. To ensure safety, wind barrier systems are installed on both sides of the bridge passage to reduce the impact of crosswinds on passing pedestrians and vehicles.

The Zhijiang Yangtze River Bridge is an important cross-river arterial passage in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, as outlined in the "Layout Plan for Yangtze River Mainline Cross-River Passages (2020-2035)." The Dangyang-Zhijiang-Songzi Expressway starts from Dangyang City, Yichang, passes through Zhijiang to Songzi City, Jingzhou, and will connect four major expressways: Shanghai-Chengdu, Wuhan-Chongqing, Shanghai-Chongqing, and Yichang-Yueyang. It serves as a vital north-south link between western Hubei and western Hunan, holding significant importance for promoting the integrated construction of the "Yichang-Jingzhou-Jingmen-Enshi" city cluster and supporting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

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