China is about to complete the highest bridge in the world

The tallest bridge in the world will be inaugurated this summer. Built in just 3 years at a cost of about 283 million USD, Hoa Giang Gang Bridge across the North River in Guizhou Province, southwest of China. The bridge helps reduce the travel time between two mountains from an hour to a few minutes, but the driver needs to get used to driving on the 625 m high road on the canyon. The bridge is 84 m higher than the World Trade Center skyscrapers in New York, according to Popular Science.

China has had a lot of experience with dizzying suspension bridge projects. Before completing Hoa Giang Gang Gang Bridge, the country had 8 out of the 10 tallest bridges in the world, and 43 of the 50 highest bridges. Duge Bridge is currently holding a record with a height of 565 m also located in China.

With this new bridge, engineers have chosen to design a suspension bridge to suit the harsh environmental conditions according to the height of Hoa Giang Gorge. The cable cars from the two tower 262 m high through the main pace of 1,420 m long on the river, are specially designed to bear strong winds common at that height. The structure of the main load steel truss of the bridge consists of 93 segments with a total volume of about 22,000 tons, equivalent to the weight of the two Eiffel towers.

According to Mr. Mamdouh El-Badry, professor of civil construction engineering at the University of Calgary, the process of construction is likely to need cable crane system, modules and high precision anchor systems. Technical factors not only revolve around the height of the project. The rugged mountains of the mountains make the transportation of construction materials a difficult process that lasts while the air difference between day and night in the plateau creates strong winds and less favorable weather.

“Although large scale, bridge has a slender and neat design, helps reduce wind resistance, saves materials as well as reduces the breakdown of the landscape of the canyon environment,” El-Badry said.

Despite many challenges, China completed the flower bridge of Hoa Giang Gorge in just 3 years and before the scheduled schedule. Meanwhile, the international bridge Gordie Howe connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, it takes more than 7 years to complete and expected the car in the fall of 2025.

The extension of construction time in the US can be understood because the technical projects here must comply with many regulations on logistics, environment and politics. Meanwhile, the Chinese government focused on state management not bound by similar supervisors or concerns, allowing the country to quickly accelerate projects such as Hoa Giang Gang Gang Bridge.