On May 26, the seventh round of incremental launching of the steel truss girder of the main bridge of the new Qiantang River Bridge was completed. Since assembly of the steel truss girder began in late August last year, only the final round (the eighth) remains, covering 55 meters! The bridge is beginning to take shape, grand and spectacular!

Recently, when passing near the new Qiantang River Bridge, one can see that the bridges on the north and south banks are almost joined together. The bridge is beginning to take shape, grand and spectacular!

On May 26, good news came from the construction site: the seventh round of steel truss girder launching had just been completed, and the builders were fine-tuning the alignment and elevation of the entire steel girder in preparation for assembling the final round (the eighth) of steel girders. At present, the builders are striving toward the goal of joining the north and south banks by the end of June!

The main bridge steel truss girder is expected to be closed by the end of June. In September, the girder will be lowered and transferred to Hangzhou Metro Group for track-laying and commissioning, and the project is expected to be basically completed by the end of the year. This also means the bridge will soon take overall shape, bringing convenience to Hangzhou residents' travel ever closer.

What is the significance of the completed bridge?

The new bridge uses as much as 62,000 tons of steel, 1.48 times the steel used in the "Beijing Bird's Nest" (42,000 tons). The upper deck of the bridge is a two-way, eight-lane first-class highway, and the lower deck carries a double-track express rail, with slow-traffic bicycle and pedestrian crossings across the river on both sides of the tracks. The project changes the previous practice of using tunnels to cross the Qiantang River for metro projects, realizing Hangzhou Metro's first "ride over the waves."

Rendering of the new Qiantang River Bridge

In the future, the airport express rail line, metro, and urban expressways will all pass over the new Qiantang River Bridge. Once completed, it will connect Xiaoshan Airport, Qianjiang Century City, Qianjiang New City, the East Railway Station hub, the west of the city, and the railway west station hub (planned), becoming another important commuting corridor for Hangzhou residents.