On July 7, a reporter learned from the Hefei Key Engineering Bureau that construction of the expressway network in southern and eastern Hefei has achieved a major breakthrough: the main elevated bridge of the Southwest Ring of the Smooth Second Ring Road project has been successfully closed along its entire length, setting a new speed record for major road and bridge construction. The Langxi Road (Yuxi Road–Minghuang Road) project is about to enter its second construction phase, with the elevated bridge's substructure expected to be completed by late October.

On July 7, with the successful erection of the last steel box girder at the Jinzhai Road node, the main elevated bridge of the Southwest Ring of the Smooth Second Ring Road project was fully closed.

The main elevated bridge of the Southwest Ring of the Smooth Second Ring Road project is 2.8 kilometers long, with a standard section width of 25.5 meters and six lanes in both directions. Its superstructure consists of 1,114 steel box girders with a total weight of 40,000 tons.

Since the first steel box girder was erected on March 25, the main elevated bridge was fully completed by July 7, taking 105 days. During this period, various difficulties were overcome, including exam-period restrictions, environmental inspections, and plum rain weather, and the construction node with the longest single span, the highest elevation above ground, and the greatest construction difficulty in the project was completed.

The project manager of the Hefei Key Engineering Bureau said that in the next stage, workers will brave high temperatures and intense heat to carry out continuous operations, striving to complete all steel box girder welding by the end of July, accelerate ancillary works on and under the bridge such as waterproofing, crash barriers, asphalt paving, and road structural layers, and achieve the milestone of opening the main line of the South Second Ring Road as early as possible.

"The entire Southwest Ring of the Smooth Second Ring Road project is progressing according to plan, with about 75% of the contract value completed, and we are actively setting a new speed record for major road and bridge construction," the project manager said. After the full closure of the main elevated bridge of the South Second Ring Road, once the steel bridge deck is completed, efforts will be made to finish the bridge deck ancillary works, while simultaneously accelerating construction of the ground-level roads along the South Second Ring Road, striving to open them to traffic as early as possible.

Langxi Road (Yuxi Road–Minghuang Road) Project Moves to Second Construction Phase

Based on the current project status and surrounding road network conditions, the Langxi Road (Yuxi Road–Minghuang Road) project is organized and implemented in two phases. The project officially started on March 19, 2021, with a total construction period of 18 months. At present, the first phase has been basically completed, and the project is about to enter the second phase.

The Langxi Road project under construction runs from Minghuang Road to Yuxi Road, with a total length of 4.74 kilometers and a planned red line width of 60 meters. It is an urban expressway. Among it, the section from Minghuang Road to Dacheng Road, about 0.4 kilometers, is a ground-level expressway, and the section from Dacheng Road to Yuxi Road, about 4.0 kilometers, is an elevated expressway.

According to the current construction plan, it is expected that by mid-September, pile foundation construction (rotary drilling) for the entire bridge project will be completed; by late October, the substructure of the elevated bridge will be completed; superstructure cast-in-place box girder construction will follow closely, with all superstructure construction planned to be completed by the end of April 2022.

By the end of November this year, all new drainage construction along the entire line will be completed; by April 2022, cement-stabilized macadam paving of the new road subgrade structural layer will be completed; and by early May 2022, asphalt paving of the road surface layer will be completed.

The advancement of this project will effectively improve the traffic environment in the northeastern area, reduce the interference of nodes along the line with traffic flow on Langxi Road, give full play to the function of the city's main artery, and achieve direct and rapid connection between the main urban area and surrounding clusters.