On October 8, with the removal of the last tremie pipe, the underwater bottom-sealing concrete pouring for Pier No. 369 of the main bridge of the Yicheng Hanjiang River Grand Bridge on the Xiangyang-Jingmen Railway, constructed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group, was successfully completed, marking phased progress in the construction of the bridge's main span and laying the foundation for the superstructure construction of the entire bridge.

The Yicheng Hanjiang River Grand Bridge has a total length of 25,483.82 meters and is one of the key control projects of the Xiangyang-Jingmen Railway. Its main bridge crossing the Hanjiang River is an (88+200+200+88)-meter low-pylon stiffened rigid-frame continuous girder with a total length of 577.5 meters. The main bridge has three main piers. The one whose bottom sealing was completed this time is the central main pier, Pier No. 369, whose cofferdam is 26.7 meters long, 26.7 meters wide and 24.54 meters deep, using the underwater concrete pouring construction technique. Because it is located in the middle of the river, its cofferdam is deeper and larger, and the bottom-sealing thickness is greater.

It is understood that the bottom of the Hanjiang River channel is uneven, posing difficulties such as complex construction techniques, a long pouring cycle and high safety risks. On the eve of the bottom sealing, there was also successive rainfall, which raised the water level of the Hanjiang River. The project team optimized the construction plan multiple times, accelerated the underwater mud suction of the cofferdam and the erection of the bottom-sealing platform, and organized construction rationally, completing all preparatory work for the bottom sealing before the flood discharge from the Danjiangkou Reservoir upstream on the eve of the National Day holiday. The project team monitored hydrological characteristics in real time and carried out the bottom sealing promptly once conditions were met, ensuring that the underwater cofferdam bottom sealing for the deep foundation pit was completed to high quality in a single operation. The bottom-sealing thickness this time was about 3.6 meters. Next, the project will fully accelerate to carry out the construction of the main pier and abutment.