Recently, temperatures in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region dropped sharply and snowflakes drifted through the air. At the construction site of the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway project, as the last batch of concrete was poured, the project's controlling works—Houzia No. 2 Bridge—was successfully closed and connected.

Houzia No. 2 Bridge is located in the mountainous area of northern the Tianshan Mountains, in the Houzia section of Urumqi County, close to National Highway 216. The cast-in-place section of the bridge has a total length of 410 meters and is designed as a five-span continuous rigid-frame bridge. Its tallest pier is 142 meters high, equivalent to a 50-story building.

The reporter followed the workers up a construction elevator all the way to the deck of the just-closed 142-meter-high bridge. The elevator rose slowly, with the strong wind howling through the canyon around them and a hundred-meter-deep valley below, making one extremely nervous, while the workers nearby appeared relatively relaxed: "We take the elevator up and down at least seven or eight times a day, so we're used to it."

Stepping out of the elevator and walking on the 12.75-meter-wide deck, one could see embedded reinforcement bars for paving everywhere, and the four sets of eight cantilever cast-in-place form travelers on each side of the deck had already been joined. "This bridge is a five-span continuous rigid-frame bridge; from both ends to the middle, the spans are the side span, secondary middle span, and middle span. As the form travelers 'move' forward one section, we pour one section, and finally close them in sequence," introduced Song Xiaobo, a technical worker on site. Deck construction began with site entry in February last year, starting with the installation of tower cranes, elevators, and form travelers, followed by cast-in-place construction.

At peak times, more than 200 people worked at high altitude, and what the workers feared most during construction was wind. "There are many windy days at the canyon site, and instantaneous strong winds are quite common. To ensure construction safety, work stops on site when the wind exceeds force 4," Song Xiaobo said, pointing to the wind speed monitor on the tower crane. He added that high-altitude construction safety measures are now quite comprehensive, so the workers feel at ease doing their jobs.

During project construction, technical personnel continuously optimized and improved the construction plans and methods, setting detailed requirements for the climbing formwork construction of the bridge's hollow thin-walled piers, the cantilever form traveler construction of the continuous rigid frame, and pier column curing. The project department strengthened safety control for high-altitude three-dimensional cross operations, overcame difficulties such as steep terrain, large temperature differences between day and night, narrow construction sites and access roads, and high risks in safety and environmental and water conservation control, optimized the construction organization design, and ultimately ensured the smooth closure of the bridge.

"After the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway project opens to traffic, while providing convenient transportation, this hundred-meter-high bridge will also become a beautiful scenic landmark in the area," Song Xiaobo said.

Project Profile

The Urumqi-Yuli Expressway project starts on the west side of the Urumqi Cangfanggou Interchange of the Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway and ends at Qiongkule Village on the east side of Yuli County in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. It has a total length of 319.7 kilometers, four lanes in both directions, and is expected to open to traffic by the end of 2025. By then, the drive from Urumqi to Korla will be shortened from 7 hours to 3 hours.