On January 12, the Yangmeizhou Bridge, constructed by the Hunan Branch of CCCC Third Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd., completed the concrete pouring for the last pile foundation, hole No. 22#-10, of the Hexi No. 22 main pier. With this, after 163 days, all 24 super-large-diameter bored cast-in-place piles for the Hexi No. 22 main pier of the Yangmeizhou Bridge have been completed.
The Yangmeizhou Bridge crosses the river in a single span. Its main bridge is a semi-floating-system cable-stayed bridge with two towers and two cable planes, and a main span of 658 meters, making it the cable-stayed bridge with the largest span over the Xiang River. The cable towers are reinforced-concrete single-column towers, and the Hexi cable tower has a total height of 181 meters. The main pier cap is a circular structure 8 meters high and 36 meters in diameter, with 24 bored cast-in-place piles of 3 meters in diameter beneath the cap. In the karst cave area of the Hexi No. 22 main pier, the piles range from 30 m to 60 m in length. The No. 22 main pier is located at the land-water boundary between Yangmeizhou and the Xiang River and is in an area with active karst cave development, where the visible rate of karst caves is as high as 76.5%. The caves are numerous and extensive, which is relatively rare in engineering construction. In the face of complex geology, active karst cave development, and extraordinary flood disasters encountered during construction, the project department overcame numerous difficulties by optimizing the construction plan, strengthening technological innovation, and organizing construction scientifically, ensuring the smooth completion of the node project on the critical path.
The completion of the pile foundation construction for the Hexi main pier provides assurance for the subsequent cap construction and lays a solid foundation for achieving the full opening of the bridge in 2019.