At around 5 a.m. on the 24th, the steel structure of the elevated level of the east station building of Lushan Station in Jiangxi was precisely docked with the west station building dozens of meters up in the air, marking the completion of the world's first integral cross-line incremental launching of a large-scale steel structure in a station renovation project at Lushan Station, and setting four world records for cross-line incremental launching construction in station building renovation projects: the widest steel structure, the heaviest steel structure, the largest area, and the largest number of sliding rails.

On November 24, Lushan Station completed the world's first integral cross-line incremental launching of a large-scale steel structure in a station renovation project. The photo shows the steel structure of the elevated level of the east station building of Lushan Station being precisely docked with the west station building dozens of meters up in the air. Photo by Yuan Peng

Lushan Station is located in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. The station building has a total floor area of about 60,000 square meters, and the rail yard has 8 platforms and 25 tracks. It is being built in two phases, the east and west station buildings. It was designed by China Railway Fifth Survey and Design Institute Group Co., Ltd. and is being constructed by China Railway Construction Engineering Group. The station building spans 10 main railway lines in operation, including the Beijing-Kowloon Railway and the Wuhan-Jiujiang Railway. Among them, the Beijing-Kowloon Railway is a major railway artery running through north and south China and is one of the busiest trunk lines, with a train passing on average every 3 minutes.

The steel structure of the east station building of Lushan Station has a total width of 176 meters, a total length of 90 meters, a total weight of 4,300 tons, and a covered area of 15,840 square meters, equivalent to the size of 38 standard basketball courts. It consists of five individual structures, including the waiting-hall trusses, the transfer corridor, and the footbridge. The shapes, stiffness, and load-bearing behavior of these structures are all different, making this China's first incremental launching construction of a combined irregular steel structure with unequal heights. The construction process faced challenges such as large volume, heavy weight, and crossing many railway lines.

On November 24, Lushan Station completed the world's first integral cross-line incremental launching of a large-scale steel structure in a station renovation project. The photo shows an aerial side panorama after the incremental launching. Photo by Yuan Peng

"Launching a 4,300-ton combined steel structure into place across 10 railway lines in operation is an original achievement in the field of station building renovation in China and the first of its kind in the history of station building construction in the world," said Dong Shilin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

According to reports, the successful completion of this integral cross-line incremental launching of the large-scale steel structure in the Lushan Station renovation project provides new ideas and technical support for similar station building construction in the future in terms of improving construction efficiency, reducing operational losses, and ensuring the safety of operating railway lines. Next, construction at Lushan Station will enter its final sprint stage, laying a solid foundation for meeting the conditions for commissioning in 2024.