At 12:00 on February 1, the world's second-largest and China's largest long-span steel truss stiffened girder suspension bridge—the Hangrui Expressway Dongting Lake Bridge—was officially completed and opened to traffic. With this, the entire Hangrui Expressway is fully connected, which will greatly alleviate the traffic pressure on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway and the Changsha-Zhangjiajie Expressway.
Technological Innovation Overcomes Multiple Technical Challenges
The Dongting Lake Bridge is a control project of the Linxiang-Yueyang section of the Hangrui National Expressway. It is located at the confluence of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, at the throat where Dongting Lake flows into the Yangtze. The bridge has a total length of 23.118 km and adopts a dual-tower, dual-span steel truss stiffened girder suspension bridge structure, with a main span of 1,480 meters. It is currently the world's second-largest and China's largest long-span steel truss stiffened girder suspension bridge. The bridge deck is 33.5 meters wide, with six lanes in both directions and a design speed of 100 km/h.
The bridge features multiple innovations in technology and craftsmanship. The bridge has a total length of 2,390 meters and a main span of 1,480 meters. Its main span ranks first in China and second in the world among steel truss stiffened girder suspension bridges, and it is called a "super project" in world bridge construction.
During the construction of the Hangrui Expressway Dongting Lake Bridge, the builders actively carried out scientific and technological research and independent innovation, overcame a series of difficulties, and applied various new technologies and processes.
The bridge achieved eight major innovations. Among them, it was the first to propose and adopt a new plate-truss composite stiffened girder structure on a highway suspension bridge. Compared with traditional methods, the new structure saves about 12% of the steel used for the main girder, equivalent to 4,000 tons, and reduces the self-weight of the bridge superstructure by 8%, thereby greatly saving the scale and cost of the foundation engineering. It was also the first to apply a new steel-ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) lightweight composite bridge deck structure, effectively solving the problems of fatigue cracking risk of traditional steel bridge decks and the vulnerability of asphalt pavement on steel bridge decks.
Dongting Lake Ring Expressway Formed; Yueyang to Changde More Convenient
The Dayue Expressway is the easternmost section of the Hangrui Expressway in Hunan Province. It starts at Dajie in Linxiang, connects to the Yangxin-Tongcheng Expressway in Hubei Province, and ends at Junshan District in Yueyang, linking with the Yueyang-Changde section of the Hangrui line. The route has a total length of 69.807 kilometers.
"Previously, vehicles traveling from Yueyang to Changde had to exit at the Lengshuipu toll station, pass through the urban area of Yueyang, and then enter the expressway at the Junshan toll station, causing enormous pressure on traffic in Yueyang's urban area. After the Hangrui Expressway Dongting Lake Bridge opens to traffic, driving from Yueyang to Changde will be smoother," introduced Li Jian, chief engineer of the Hunan Provincial Expressway Construction and Development Corporation.
In addition, after the Hangrui Dongting Bridge opens to traffic, the entire Hangrui Expressway will be fully connected and will interconnect with the already-open Changde-Changsha Expressway and the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway to form a ring, creating a Dongting Lake ring expressway. This is of great significance for improving the national expressway network, promoting the development of the Dongting Lake economic circle and the economy of Yueyang City, as well as for tourism development, flood control, and disaster reduction in the Dongting Lake area.
Overcoming Difficulties, Showcasing the Builders' Style
Viewed from afar, the outer side of the Hangrui Dongting Bridge's cable towers resembles "panpipe vertical pipes," cleverly adopting the shape of "Xiaoxiang Qin Rhyme." It has a strong local cultural flavor and combines with the natural beauty of Dongting, and has been praised by the industry as a "science and technology bridge" and a "landscape bridge."
However, the construction of the bridge was not easy.
"The bridge is located at the confluence of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, spanning three types of terrain: the Yueyang riverside embankment, the Xiangjiang navigation channel, and the Junshan shoal, with complex geological conditions. The main bridge is located at Chenglingji Port, where a large number of ships pass through every day, posing high safety risks. The climate in the Dongting Lake area is changeable, belonging to a monsoon climate, with many periods of fog, strong wind, and heavy rain. The water level is affected by the hydrology of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, and the flood season with water levels exceeding the design construction water level lasts for a long time. These objective conditions make the project extremely difficult to construct," said Chen Guoping, manager of the Dayue Expressway Dongting Lake Bridge Construction and Development Co., Ltd., to reporters.
Section A1 of the bridge was constructed by Hunan Road & Bridge Construction Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hunan Communications and Water Conservancy Construction Group. "Since the project started, the Jiaoshui Construction project team has strengthened scientific and technological innovation, overcome difficulties, and built this 'super project' efficiently, with high quality, and safely. We will work even harder to contribute new strength to transportation construction," said Zhou Xiongfei, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and vice chairman of Hunan Communications and Water Conservancy Construction Group, in an interview with reporters.
[Spring Festival Travel Congestion Avoidance Routes] 　　1. Drivers heading south on the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway to Guangxi:
　　At the Jinwu interchange, turn onto the G56 Hangrui Expressway, drive west to the Xiaowupu interchange, turn onto the G55 Erguang Expressway and continue south, then at the Jielvqiao interchange in Yongzhou, turn onto the G72 Quannan Expressway to Guangxi.
　　2. Drivers entering Hunan via the Suiyue Expressway to Guangxi:
　　At the Gongcheng interchange, turn onto the G56 Hangrui Expressway, drive west to the Xiaowupu interchange, turn onto the G55 Erguang Expressway and continue south, then at the Jielvqiao interchange in Yongzhou, turn onto the G72 Quannan Expressway to Guangxi.
　　3. During the Spring Festival travel rush, drivers entering Hunan via the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway to Guangdong:
　　If encountering traffic congestion, you can turn onto the G56 Hangrui Expressway at the Jinwu interchange, drive west to the Xiaowupu interchange, turn onto the G55 Erguang Expressway and continue south, directly to Guangzhou.
　　4. If there is congestion on the G5513 Changsha-Zhangjiajie Expressway, drivers departing from Changsha to Changde, Xiangxi, Guiyang, or Kunming:
　　You can directly choose the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, G107 National Highway, or S11 Pingru Expressway to go north, then turn onto the G56 Hangrui Expressway to reach your destination.
　　From preparation and design to completion of construction, the Hangrui Dongting Bridge took a full eight years. The opening of this long-awaited bridge is of great significance for the improvement of the national road network, the development of the Dongting Lake economic circle, the further development of tourism routes, and the enhancement of emergency rescue capabilities of the Dongting Lake urban agglomeration.
　　Road Network Significance
　　The completion of the Dongting Lake Bridge realizes the connection of the east-west artery of the G56 Hangrui Expressway and also forms a closed loop for the entire expressway network around Dongting Lake.
For drivers traveling east-west through Hunan, there is no need to exit the expressway and detour through urban roads; for drivers traveling north-south through Hunan, if they encounter congestion, they can quickly detour to other routes.
　　Economic Significance
　　The Dongting Lake Economic Circle is a key economic circle designated by the state for development, but it had previously been constrained by transportation conditions. After the full connection of the Hangrui Expressway, it will link the three cities around Dongting Lake (Yueyang, Changde, and Yiyang), adding transportation advantages to the Dongting Lake Economic Circle and bringing greater development opportunities.
　　Tourism Significance
　　The G56 Hangrui Expressway Dongting Bridge connects three major tourist destinations in eastern, central, and western China: Hangzhou, an important tourist city in eastern China; Hunan's Yueyang, Changde, Zhangjiajie, and Xiangxi, all important tourist cities in central China; and Ruili, a key border tourist city in western China.
　　After the full opening of the Hangrui Expressway, tourists coming to Hunan from the western or eastern regions can, via the Hangrui Expressway, visit the Wulingyuan Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie, the Taohuayuan Scenic Area in Changde, and the Yueyang Tower Scenic Area in Yueyang. Through high-speed interchanges, they can directly enter Hubei to visit the Yellow Crane Tower, or go to Jiangxi's Tengwang Pavilion, which is of great significance for promoting tourism development and facilitating tourist travel.
　　Emergency Significance
　　In the past, the urban agglomeration around Dongting Lake was not connected by expressways. Once floods occurred, materials and personnel could not be quickly deployed. Now that the closed loop of the Dongting Lake ring expressway has been created, emergency response capabilities and efficiency in emergency situations have been greatly enhanced.