Recently, the small steel arch tower of the main span of the Zhenchuan Bridge, weighing 1,350 tons, successfully completed its vertical rotation to reach the designed steel tower bridge state, providing valuable experience for the subsequent construction of the large steel arch tower.
The Zhenchuan Bridge project is one of the eight bridges in the Kunshan Qingyang Port Waterway Remediation Project, a major transportation and waterway project in Jiangsu Province. The main bridge is an asymmetric steel arch cable-stayed bridge across the navigation channel, currently the highest bridge over inland rivers in Suzhou. The bridge has an elegant main structure, with the tower columns adopting a butterfly-shaped steel arch tower design, slanting 25 degrees towards the shores on each side, with inclined heights of 101.7 meters and 78.7 meters respectively. The two open circular arch bridge towers resemble a “twin lotus.”
According to the introduction, the Zhenchuan Bridge is the first steel cable-stayed bridge in Suzhou to adopt the vertical rotation construction method, with high technical requirements, great construction difficulty, and high safety risks. Among them, the most important and difficult process is the vertical rotation construction of the single-sided large steel arch tower for the double-tower cable-stayed bridge, with a rotation weight of 1,750 tons and a vertical rotation angle of 65 degrees. During the rotation of the steel arch tower, the control standards for the tower frame lifting cable forces are strict, and the rotational hinge precision requirements for the steel arch tower are high. Meanwhile, the horizontal displacement of the temporary tower frame must be controlled within 5 centimeters.
Next, the Zhenchuan Bridge project will organize and implement the vertical rotation of the large steel arch tower structure, which is expected to be completed in mid-April. The project is scheduled to be completed in June this year. Upon completion, the Qingyang Port waterway will have the capacity to accommodate the passage of 1,000-ton container ships, effectively supporting the construction of Kunshan’s “urban living room” and improving the integrated transportation system.