Just Confirmed and Clear! Xiang’an’s New Cross-sea Bridge Is Shifting Gear!

More good news just in!

From Xiang’an’s new cross-sea bridge project

comes exciting updates.

As a key supporting transportation link for Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport, the Liandeng Bridge has completed the construction of the first 0# segment of its prestressed cantilever continuous rigid-frame box girder. The superstructure of the main span is now under full-scale construction, marking a shift into high gear as the project accelerates, with its inspection readiness expected by May next year.

At the construction site, the concrete for the 0# segment has been poured and fully cured. On the girder itself, workers are collaborating closely to install anchoring systems, jacks, and other equipment for the prestressed steel strands on both sides. "In a couple of days, we will carry out prestressing on the girder, a process that effectively injects 'internal force' into the bridge, enhancing its resistance to cracking, bending, and deformation once completed," explained Fan Mingting, Technical Director of the project from Xiamen Road & Bridge Construction Co., Ltd., the entrusted construction agency. So far, nearly 60% of the entire project has been completed. The bonded-zone access bridge is expected to achieve full-span closure by the end of 2025.

Project Overview

According to the introduction, the Liandeng Bridge project spans the Lianhe River and Dadeng area in Xiang’an District, comprising left and right freight passage bridges as well as a bonded-zone access bridge. Specifically, the newly built freight corridor starts at the intersection of Binhai East Avenue and Lianhe East Road, extending southward to connect with Airport North Road. With a total length of approximately 1.6 kilometers, it is designed to accommodate both passenger and cargo transport. Meanwhile, the bonded-zone access bridge originates from the Lianhe Comprehensive Bonded Zone, spans the Nangang waters, and connects to the Dadeng Island Bonded Zone. This 3-kilometer-long dedicated corridor serves as a crucial link for the airport's bonded logistics network.

To ensure uninterrupted navigation in the lower waterway during construction, all passage bridges in the project adopt the cantilever construction method using prestressed continuous rigid-frame box girders, an engineering technique commonly referred to as the "hanging basket construction." In simple terms, this method involves installing a "basket" at the front end of the bridge's construction zone. Whenever a segment of concrete is cast and solidified, the hanging basket moves forward, repeating the process until the span is fully connected.

According to Yang Zusen, Party Secretary of the project team from China Railway Tunnel Group, the project’s construction contractor ↓↓

"Leveraging the advantages of this technique, we are able to construct the entire 150-meter-long span above the waterway through 'suspended' operations, without the need to install temporary supports or piers at the bottom of the bridge, which significantly reduces the impact of the project construction on maritime traffic safety. The 0# segment of the continuous rigid-frame box girder cast in this phase, is located on the north side of the main pier at the navigable opening of the bonded-zone access bridge as the starting point of the 'hanging basket' construction, while two sets of hanging basket platforms will advance simultaneously from this segment, moving both northward and southward."

As one of the key transportation corridors for Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport, the project, after its construction, is expected to play a vital role in enhancing interconnectivity within the region and accelerating the development of the airport's comprehensive bonded zone. By optimizing the use of cross-sea channel resources, the bridge will contribute significantly to improving the airport's logistics network of collection and distribution and driving high-quality growth in the surrounding area of the airport.