"At present, 85% of the bridge construction work has been completed. Of this, the roadbed is 100% complete and the bridge is 90% complete, with only a small portion of the bridge and ancillary pavement works remaining. The side spans are expected to close on December 10, the mid-span by the end of December, and the bridge is scheduled for completion and opening to traffic before next year's 'May Day'..." Wang Lin, chief engineer of the Ganjiang Bridge project at Sichuan Road & Bridge Construction Group Co., Ltd., told reporters.

Recalling the past, the days were full of stirring achievements. From the barren site at the start to the imminent closure of the side spans, the builders of the Ganjiang Bridge are filled with emotion as they look back on the days and nights of sweat. They raced against time and achieved brilliance and glory along the way.

Pursuing Quality: Working Together for the "Major Test"

A bridge built to last a century puts quality first. For the builders, creating a quality project is nothing short of a "major test." From the very beginning of the Ganjiang Bridge project, the principle of "high standards, strict requirements, and creating a quality project" has been upheld, with emphasis on using high-tech means to improve project quality and safety management.

Innovative exploration solves problems. Speaking of the innovative exploration in bridge foundation construction and the application of new technologies in the Ganjiang Bridge project, Wang Lin can rattle them off: underwater unmanned detection allows engineers to grasp underwater conditions in real time and solves a persistent problem in bridge construction; a micro-innovation using air lifting solves the problem of insufficient penetration depth of steel sheet piles into rock in shallow overburden areas; and UAV oblique photography speeds up construction efficiency and improves surveying efficiency and accuracy.

"Smart construction site" controls quality. Through deep development of the real-time data transmission system configured in the earlier infrastructure construction, the project department relays data to mobile phone terminals via an APP, achieving seamless connection between front and back offices. Through this program, the project can better control concrete construction quality and ensure bridge construction quality.

"Safety points" promote safety. The project implements a safety points management system, with monthly point assessments and settlements for workers. Those scoring above 80 points can exchange points for free goods at the workers' self-service supermarket on site, while those scoring below 60 points must receive no less than 6 hours of safety education and pass an assessment before returning to work. This approach transforms traditional safety penalties into incentive rewards, raising workers' safety awareness and enthusiasm and ensuring safe production on the project.

Racing the Schedule: Spurring the Journey Onward

Success in all endeavors lies in diligence; failure lies in slowness.

"The Ganjiang Bridge project has three major 'roadblocks'..." Wang Lin said that floods, the epidemic, and construction debris in the water have become the main constraints on project progress. There were two floods and two epidemics, and the construction debris in the water made hydrological and geological conditions complex, bringing great difficulties to project construction.

Time waits for no one; the pace must be quickened.

"We must have the determination and courage to tackle the toughest challenges. Not waiting and not relying on others, taking the initiative is our only option."

To battle floods, the project department strengthened forecasting and prepared contingency plans well in advance. Before the flood season arrived, it completed the underwater pile foundation and cap construction, minimizing all kinds of losses.

To control the epidemic, the project department strictly guarded against it while, in response to the practical difficulty that out-of-town workers could not arrive on time, increasing local recruitment and optimizing construction organization arrangements.

To deal with construction debris, a series of high-tech innovations were adopted, achieving rotary drilling construction for large-diameter foundations on the Ganjiang River for the first time and shortening the previous half-month hole-forming period to 8 hours...

To both race the schedule and ensure project quality, the command headquarters often used evening rest time to convene the bridge design, construction, supervision, and inspection units to study how to speed up progress and ensure quality control, often working late into the night and through to dawn...

In a race of a hundred boats, those who row hardest lead. Wang Lin said that the builders of the Ganjiang Bridge will seize the fine weather, organize carefully, and construct scientifically, striving to shorten the construction cycle, accelerate construction progress, and ensure that the pavement works are completed smoothly according to the planned milestones.