Early spring brings diligent work. At around 9 AM on February 16, the Xicun Port Sea-Crossing Bridge project site, shrouded in light mist, was bustling with roaring machinery, flying welding sparks, and rotating tower cranes. Reporters learned on site that as of now, 70% of the entire project has been completed, and the bridge is expected to be completed and open to traffic by the end of this year.

The Xicun Port Sea-Crossing Bridge project is a major project coordinated and promoted at the autonomous region level, with a total investment of about 940 million yuan. Construction started in March 2019. Currently, the construction of the bridge substructure and approach bridge piers has been completed, and the construction of the bridge deck, main bridge piers, and two main towers is underway. The bridge's prototype has taken shape and is quite impressive.

To ensure the Xicun Port Sea-Crossing Bridge is completed and open to traffic by the end of this year, during the Spring Festival, more than 200 builders stayed on site, working overtime to speed up progress. Feng Long, project manager of the Xicun Port Sea-Crossing Bridge of China Railway 20th Bureau Group, is one of them. Feng Long comes from Xi'an and has stayed in Beihai for the Spring Festival for two consecutive years. Unlike the 2020 Spring Festival, this year his wife and children came to Beihai to spend a warm Spring Festival with him at the project site.

"During the Spring Festival, except for taking a rest on the first day of the Lunar New Year, we worked as usual on other days. The weather has been good these days, suitable for pouring concrete, and we have been busy until one or two in the morning every day," Feng Long introduced. In March this year, construction of the main bridge steel girders will start, and the entire main bridge project is expected to be completed in July this year.

Reporters learned that the Xicun Port Sea-Crossing Bridge connects Bohai Road in the west and Haijing Avenue in the Ocean Industry Science and Technology Park in the east, with a total length of about 2,545 meters. The main bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with two towers and two cable planes, and its design inspiration comes from a national treasure-level cultural relic—the Hepu Bronze Phoenix Lamp. The designer abstractly interpreted the bronze phoenix lamp into the shape of the bridge towers, paired with cables like piano strings, perfectly integrating modern bridge technology with history and culture. Once completed, the Xicun Port Sea-Crossing Bridge will become a wealth channel for Beihai's industry-city integration and the development of the marine economy, and will also become a new landmark and new landscape in Beihai.