Imagine a 10,000-tonne beam—about as heavy as 1,000 elephants—gliding into place over a high-speed maglev track. On the night of January 8, Pudong’s Chuansha Super Major Bridge pulled off a stunning 60° rotation in just one hour! 🤩
Using four “intelligent jacks” (think of them as autopilot systems for mega-structures), engineers guided the continuous beam with millimeter-level precision. By 11:30 p.m., the bridge seamlessly spanned the operational maglev line and Yingbin Expressway—China’s first large-span rotation over an active high-speed maglev. 🚄🌉
This project is a key part of the second phase of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway (Taicang to Situan section), built by China Construction Eighth Engineering Bureau and managed by Shanghai State Railway Construction Management Company. The successful rotation sets the stage for upcoming track-laying work.
For anyone who’s cheered on projects like Indonesia’s Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail or India’s bullet train plans, this is the next-level flex in bridge engineering. Precision, power, and tech all in one move! 💪
Stay tuned: with track-laying kicking off next, faster and smoother rail connections across the Yangtze Delta are closer than ever.
Reference(s):
China's first 10,000-tonne bridge rotates to span maglev line
cgtn.com
