On March 28, the left-span mid-span of the Tanjun Highway bridge section, a sub-project of the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone Smart Eco-City PPP Project, was successfully closed, marking the completion of the entire main structure of the Tanjun Highway Bridge and providing important assurance for the Tanjun Highway to open to traffic before May 1.

At 8:08 p.m. on March 28, on the main bridge of the Tanjun Highway Bridge of the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone Smart City Project, a large concrete boom pump on an engineering vehicle extended its 47-meter-long “arm” into the bridge closure section, completing the closure of the bridge. Huang Yongdi, deputy manager of the CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone Smart Eco-City PPP Project, said that the bridge is 1,779 meters long and 33.5 meters wide and is a key control project of the Smart Eco-City PPP construction project:

Huang Yongdi: This progress has laid the foundation for the Tanjun Highway to be ready for traffic before May 1.

It is understood that the Smart Eco-City project has a total investment of 2.5 billion yuan and includes 15 sub-projects of various construction types such as bridges, roads, water supply and drainage, parks, and dredging and improvement. The Tanjun Highway, with an investment of 624 million yuan, is the largest and most difficult sub-project of Smart City, including the Tanjun Highway (Zhongshanhu Road—Tongshun Avenue) road, drainage, and bridge works. It connects the Huangling area and the Junshan area within the region and is an important trunk road in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone. Tang Yongshun, chief engineer of the CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone Smart Eco-City PPP Project:

Tang Yongshun: It currently takes 20 to 30 minutes for large trucks to travel between the Huangling area and the Junshan area. After the Tanjun Highway Bridge is completed, it will take only 3 minutes.

Since construction began in August 2018, the Tanjun Highway Bridge has been affected by the Military World Games and the COVID-19 pandemic, with work suspended for more than 120 days. During the Yangtze River basin floods in 2020, it was even designated as a flood discharge area, and the site was controlled and sealed off for 114 days. The project construction team fully leveraged its initiative, optimized processes and construction methods, made up more than a month of schedule, and saved more than 8 million yuan in costs. Tang Yongshun:

Tang Yongshun: Our project has many process innovations. One of them, related to foundation pit construction, obtained patent authorization from the National Intellectual Property Administration.

According to reports, as of now, all 15 sub-projects of Smart City have been implemented, of which 12 have been completed and entered the operation and maintenance period, and the remaining 3 are also under vigorous construction. In addition to the Tanjun Bridge, which was closed this time, another sub-project——Chuanjiangchi Park——will also be completed soon, creating a “5-minute urban park green space service circle” for surrounding residents.

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During the suspension of the Tanjun Highway Bridge for the 2019 Military World Games, the construction team mobilized personnel and equipment to establish a Military World Games duty and standby emergency team. They patrolled and maintained the Military World Games support routes and venues every day and successfully handled two major emergencies on an urgent basis: water accumulation at Gate 11 of the main venue of the Military World Games and a ruptured main water pipe at the Military World Games golf venue. They received recognition and commendation from the government.

During the 2020 flood season, the Tanjun Highway not only actively cooperated with the government’s flood discharge work and unconditionally withdrew personnel and equipment, but also took the initiative to undertake flood control and emergency rescue tasks in the Economic and Technological Development Zone after suspension of work. It reinforced the Tongshun River dike three times and urgently handled dozens of dangerous situations, including piping on the left bank dike of the Ejiang River, water accumulation on the Wuhan-Jianli Expressway, and the collapse of the wall of the Junshan Juvenile Correctional Facility.

When the flood control situation was most severe, the management personnel and workers of the Tanjun Highway Bridge spontaneously formed a flood control and emergency rescue team of more than 100 people. They set up prefabricated housing and stationed themselves for more than a month on the spot next to the most dangerous termite-damaged section of the Tongshun River dike, patrolling and standing guard 24 hours a day until the flood season passed safely.

During the project research, multiple technological innovations and breakthroughs were also achieved, such as “improving the pass rate of hole cleaning sediment for bored cast-in-place piles” and “reducing the incidence of transverse cracks after use of urban asphalt roads.” The project won provincial QC achievement awards many times. “A Support and Excavation Construction Structure and Construction Method for Deep Foundation Pits in Soft Soil Geology” obtained patent authorization from the National Intellectual Property Administration and was developed into a micro-course for promotion within the group.