On August 26, the Yuandun River Grand Bridge of the Shenshan West Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project was successfully closed, marking a breakthrough in the construction of the Shenshan West Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project and laying a solid foundation for the opening of the entire Shenshan West Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project to traffic.

The Shenshan West Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project, undertaken by China Railway First Group First Engineering Co., Ltd., starts in Chishi Town of the Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone and ends at the junction of Ebu Town of the Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone and Huidong County. The Yuandun River Grand Bridge closed this time is 913.3 meters long and is a controlling works of the Shenshan West Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project.

Since construction began in May 2021, the project department has overcome many difficulties, including the great difficulty of constructing pile foundations in hard rock in the fault zone, the difficulty of controlling temperature differences in high-grade mass concrete, and the difficulty of organizing the construction of the bridge-tunnel connection in landslide loose deposits, ensuring the orderly and efficient progress of the bridge.

According to reports, since entering the site, the project department has taken process quality standardization as the starting point and implemented standardized operations for temporary works such as prefabricated pier column protection platforms, standardized protective railings for trestle bridges, and standardized edge protection for diamond-shaped form travelers. Relying on new processes and new methods, it has implemented process standardization and management standardization, including fully intelligent tensioning and grouting of prestressed box girders, positioning jigs for horizontal and vertical coordinates of prestressed ducts, and automated and informatized monitoring of mass concrete and tall and large supports. It has widely applied the Internet, QR codes, mobile APPs, intelligent hardware, and data exchange in concrete mixing stations, laboratory data collection, raw material inspection, safety, quality and environmental monitoring, tower crane information monitoring, and mechanical equipment control, comprehensively improving the project's informatization and refined management level. At the same time, technological innovation represented by the complete set of mechanized construction technology for prefabricated slope grid beams has led to applications for 6 invention patents and 15 utility model patents, and the summary and formation of 3 scientific and technological achievements.

In addition, the other two key works of this project are the 467-meter-long Yuandun No. 1 Tunnel and the 654-meter-long Yuandun No. 2 Tunnel. Both tunnels are domestic extra-large cross-section single-tube four-lane flat tunnels. The project department overcame many difficulties, including shallow cover and unbalanced pressure at the tunnel portals, landslide loose deposits, developed joints and fissures in the surrounding rock, broken rock masses, softening upon contact with water, and blasting excavation adjacent to the existing operating expressway. It adopted advanced processes and equipment such as millisecond controlled blasting technology, self-propelled hydraulic invert trestles, and intelligent secondary lining trolleys to ensure the quality and safety of tunnel construction. Both tunnels were holed through half a year ahead of the scheduled construction period.

Yang Jizhong, project manager of the Shenshan West Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project of China Railway First Group First Engineering Co., Ltd., stated that during the bridge construction, the project adopted multiple advanced technologies such as key technology for bridge-tunnel connection under steep-slope loose deposit conditions and intelligent temperature control monitoring for mass concrete. Before the closure construction, a special construction plan for the mid-span closure of the bridge was formulated, and technical disclosure was strengthened. A comprehensive and careful inspection was conducted on the installation of formwork, reinforcing steel, prestressed ducts, and formwork fasteners, and the bridge was finally closed smoothly on schedule.

According to reports, the Shenshan West Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project is a demonstration project of the Ministry of Transport's Safe and Centennial Quality Engineering and a pilot project for building a country with strong transportation. It is also currently the only expressway directly connecting Shenzhen and the Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone. After completion and opening to traffic, it will achieve rapid expressway interconnection between Shenshan and Shanwei in 30 minutes and with Shenzhen in 90 minutes.