At 4 p.m. on the 10th, the launch ceremony for the Party building theme activity 'Spirit of the 19th National Congress into Work Teams, Party Flag Red on Chongqing East Loop Line' and the sinking of the steel cofferdam for the Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge, undertaken by China Railway No.2 Engineering Group, officially began. As one of the main features, the steel cofferdam floated by the Yangtze River bank. Viewed from the riverside in Guangyang Town, Nan'an District, it looked like a house built on the river.
An aerial view shows the steel cofferdam, covering about the area of four basketball courts, arriving at the predetermined position and preparing to be filled with river water to sink.
The steel cofferdam for the Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge is ready to be towed to the predetermined position for sinking.
Covering about the area of four basketball courts, the steel cofferdam floated by the Yangtze River like a house built on the water. At 4 p.m. on the 10th, the cofferdam was injected with river water and began to sink slowly. Its sinking is for the construction of the No. 3 main tower of the Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge, a controlling project of the railway hub East Loop Line.
Looks like a house built on the river from afar
At 4 p.m. on the 10th, the launch ceremony for the Party building theme activity 'Spirit of the 19th National Congress into Work Teams, Party Flag Red on Chongqing East Loop Line' and the sinking of the steel cofferdam for the Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge, undertaken by China Railway No.2 Engineering Group, officially began. As one of the main features, the steel cofferdam floated by the Yangtze River bank. Viewed from the riverside in Guangyang Town, Nan'an District, it looked like a house built on the river.
The steel cofferdam was fabricated in Fuling and floated 120 kilometers along the Yangtze River to near Guangyang Town. The overall design of the steel cofferdam is a round-ended double-wall structure, 49.1 meters long, 37.6 meters wide, with a wall thickness of 1.5 meters, covering about the area of four basketball courts. The total height of the steel cofferdam is 25 meters, divided into four sections. This time, the bottom three sections, with a height of 19 meters, equivalent to a six-story building, were floated.
'In simple terms, the steel cofferdam is an enclosure for underwater construction. After the steel cofferdam sinks, it isolates the river water outside, and then we carry out the construction of the pile cap and the No. 3 main tower of the Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge,' said a person in charge of the Chongqing East Loop Line project management department of China Railway No.2 Engineering Group. After being injected with river water, the steel cofferdam will sink slowly, taking about one day. After that, according to the construction progress, the river water inside the steel cofferdam will be pumped out.
Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge has two levels and four tracks
'The Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge is a shared bridge for the railway hub East Loop Line and the planned Chongqing-Dazhou Intercity Railway to cross the Yangtze River and enter the East Station. It is one of the controlling projects of the railway hub East Loop Line and also one of the major and difficult projects of the entire line,' introduced a person in charge of the Municipal Transportation Commission.
It is understood that the Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge is China's first diamond-shaped asymmetric pylon steel truss cable-stayed bridge. The bridge adopts double N-shaped main trusses, spatial fan-shaped double cable planes with steel strand stay cables, and an orthotropic plate dense crossbeam integral bridge deck system. The overall structure is novel, the technology is advanced, and the appearance is beautiful.
The bridge has a total of 2 towers, 2 abutments, and 2 auxiliary piers. The two main towers are located on the south and north banks of the Yangtze River. The abutments and auxiliary piers are located on the slopes of both banks of the Mingyuexia Gorge. The frame-type abutment is directly connected to the tunnel open-cut section. The Mingyuexia Yangtze River Bridge is a double-level four-track bridge. The lower level is the Chongqing East Loop Line mixed passenger and freight double-track railway with a speed of 160 km/h, and the upper level is the reserved Dazhou-Chongqing Intercity double-track railway with a speed of 250 km/h.
Main line of East Loop Line expected to be completed by end of 2021
According to Wang Qinlin, deputy director of the Municipal Transportation Commission, the main line of the railway hub East Loop Line is designed and constructed according to the National Railway Class I standard, double-track, and a speed of 160 km/h. Construction started in the second half of 2017. It starts in Jiangjin District, leads out from Luohuang South Station, goes north through Luohuang East, Nanpeng, Chongqing East, Donggang, Longsheng, Tongjing, Gulu, and Shuitu, and finally connects to the Moxinpo Station of the Xiangyang-Chongqing Railway. The main line is about 158.7 kilometers long, with 8 new stations; the airport branch line and the Huangmaoping branch line are constructed simultaneously, with a total investment of about 38 billion yuan. The main line of the railway hub East Loop Line is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
The airport branch line and the Huangmaoping branch line are designed according to the National Railway Class I standard, double-track, and a speed of 120 km/h. The airport branch line starts from Chongqing North Station (interval), goes north through Jiangbei Airport, and runs along the east side of the Chongqing-Linshui Expressway to Guojiatuo Town in Yubei District, connecting with the Tongjing direction of the East Loop Line. It has two stations, Jiangbei Airport and Guojiatuo, with a main line length of about 28.5 km. The entire line has 2 new stations, 15 bridges totaling 11,543.7 meters, and 8 tunnels totaling 17,065 meters. The airport branch line strives to be completed by the end of 2020. After the entire railway hub East Loop Line is completed, it will take about 12 minutes from Chongqing North Station to the airport.
The Huangmaoping branch line starts from the Shuitu Station of the East Loop Line, goes south along the east side of Jinshan Avenue, reserves two passenger stations, Chadian and Guobo Center, and after exiting the Jinshan Tunnel, sets up a single-track freight line to the east side of Ford No. 3 Plant to set up Huangmaoping Station (industrial station). The main line is about 23 km long. The entire line has one new Huangmaoping industrial station, 15 bridges totaling 8,295.3 meters, and 3 tunnels totaling 6,806 meters.