Recently, the mid-span of the Shiguan River Grand Bridge, a controlling project of the Gushi County to Henan-Anhui Provincial Boundary Expressway, was successfully closed, marking that the project has fully entered the sprint stage and laying a solid foundation for the goal of completion and opening to traffic.

The Shiguan River Grand Bridge is located in Gushi County, Xinyang City, with a total length of 1,573 m, and is built to the navigation standard of a Class IV waterway.

Since the start of construction, in response to the construction characteristics of the Shiguan River Grand Bridge, the project has adopted a combination of methods including case investigation and analysis, theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, on-site monitoring, and engineering verification to conduct in-depth research on the construction technology for continuous rigid-frame structures with double-limb thin-walled piers of straight-web box-section. With a greater focus on speed, safety, economy, and green ecology, the project has produced research results on the construction technology for economical and applicable long-span continuous rigid-frame bridges as well as a highly practical set of construction methods, resolving many problems and drawbacks of previous construction methods, achieving a "fast, high-quality, safe, efficient, and standardized" construction outcome, effectively accelerating bridge construction progress, and saving a large amount of materials, with good economic benefits and demonstration effects.

During the construction period, the project consistently adhered to "intelligent construction and innovation-driven development," actively carried out technological innovation, technological transformation, and the promotion and application of new technologies, and continuously made new breakthroughs in project quality management and technological innovation. To date, it has obtained 3 provincial-level construction methods, 1 provincial-level model project, 4 authorized utility model patents, 1 provincial-level micro-innovation second prize, 1 transportation construction micro-innovation second prize, 1 national highway micro-innovation bronze award, 1 provincial-level QC second prize, 1 national highway construction QC third prize, and has published 2 scientific and technological papers.

It is understood that the Gushi to Henan-Anhui Provincial Boundary Expressway is a key project in the "Henan Province Expressway Network Plan (2021-2035)," starting at the Henan-Anhui provincial boundary and ending at a connection with the Huaigu section of the existing S21 Pushang Expressway, with a total route length of 38.614 km and a construction period of 36 months. Upon completion, it will add a new out-of-province corridor for Henan Province and is a key project for connecting with the Wanjiang Economic Belt and driving the economic development of the southeastern Henan region. It is of great significance for accelerating the integrated upgrading of transportation and tourism in Gushi County, improving people's livelihood and well-being, enhancing the region's comprehensive competitiveness, and realizing transportation integration in the Dabie Mountains old revolutionary base area.