At 18:57 on the 15th, at the construction site of the east main tower of the Lion Ocean Bridge in the T9 contract section of the Lion Ocean Channel undertaken by Poly Changda, salutes were fired, machinery roared, and colored flags fluttered. As the last truckload of concrete was poured into the pile hole, the right-span pile foundation works of the east main tower of the Lion Ocean Bridge—the world's largest double-deck suspension bridge being constructed by Xuteng Foundation—were successfully completed, laying a solid foundation for the main construction of the bridge.

The Lion Ocean Channel is the first double-deck river-crossing channel at the Pearl River Estuary. It starts in Dagang Town, Nansha District, Guangzhou, and ends in Humen Town, Dongguan. It is about 3.6 kilometers upstream from the Nansha Bridge and about 8 kilometers downstream from the Humen Bridge. It connects to the Guangzhou-Zhongshan-Jiangmen Expressway on the west side and the Changhu Expressway on the east side, with a total length of about 35 kilometers. The river-crossing section adopts a double-deck bridge and is about 12.5 kilometers long.

The total investment of the Lion Ocean Channel project is estimated at 50.4 billion yuan, with high design standards and an extremely large construction scale. The Lion Ocean Bridge is the key controlling project of the Lion Ocean Channel, with a span of 2,180 meters. Once completed, it will become the world's largest-span double-deck suspension bridge, setting five world records: main span length, number of lanes, main tower height, anchorage foundation, and main cable scale. Two giant cable towers are set up on the east and west banks of the Pearl River, adopting a six-crossbeam portal tower design. The towers are 342 meters high, equivalent to a 114-story building, making them the tallest towers among double-deck suspension bridges in the world.

Rendering of the Lion Ocean Channel

The project is located at the Pearl River Estuary and is constrained by natural conditions such as typhoons and complex geology, as well as controlling factors including navigation, flood control, environmental protection, safety, and planning. The construction conditions are extremely complex and the engineering difficulty is enormous. Building such a "super-mega project" requires systematic integration and innovative breakthroughs in existing technologies, processes, materials, and equipment, and requires overcoming key challenges in the bridge's structural system, wind and seismic resistance, process equipment, and disaster prevention and mitigation.

Bridge layout drawing of the Lion Ocean Bridge dual-cable scheme

Xuteng Foundation is mainly responsible for the construction of 33 bored cast-in-place piles on the right span of the east main tower, with a diameter of 3 meters, a maximum hole depth of 61.7 meters, and an average rock-socketed depth of about 20 meters. The construction of large-diameter rock-socketed piles is technically difficult and requires strict quality control, with high requirements for hole verticality, strictly controlled within 5‰. To ensure the smooth completion of the pile foundation, Xuteng Foundation, under the scientific organization and meticulous deployment of Guangdong Bay Area Transportation Construction Investment Co., Ltd. and Poly Changda Engineering Co., Ltd., successfully completed the pile foundation construction task of the right span of the east main tower with a high starting point, high standards, and high quality. On site, processes were clarified, plans optimized, and responsibilities refined, achieving all-round control over production, quality, safety, and other aspects. The step-by-step hole enlargement drilling process was adopted, with 2 XR580 rotary drilling rigs and 1 XR550 rotary drilling rig deployed, and high-quality mud was prepared for wall protection. In response to issues such as the mudstone formation being prone to softening upon contact with water after pile hole formation, the timing of rebar cage lowering was optimized and the underwater concrete mix ratio was optimized to ensure no hole collapse or necking of the pile foundation. At the same time, intelligent rebar cage processing equipment and a pile foundation informatized construction platform were used to integrate and analyze key data from rotary drilling rigs and intelligent devices, ensuring the quality of pile hole formation and pouring.

Drilling rig mobilization and assembly

Commencement ceremony

XR580 rotary drilling rig

Maximum hole diameter 3.5 m, maximum hole depth 146 m, fully meeting the construction requirements of this project

Rebar cage installation

Concrete construction

Pile testing

Civilized construction

Won first prize in the 2023 Ankang Cup Knowledge Competition of the Lion Ocean Channel

After completion, the Lion Ocean Channel will, together with the existing Humen Bridge, Pearl River Huangpu Bridge, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Nansha Bridge, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway, and the under-construction Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, Foshan-Dongguan Intercity Railway, and other highway and railway channels, jointly form a world-class cross-river channel cluster at the Pearl River Estuary, creating a comprehensive cross-river transportation system in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with diverse functions and complementary advantages. This will provide transportation support for promoting infrastructure connectivity in the Greater Bay Area and helping the urban agglomerations on both banks of the Pearl River achieve integrated development.