On January 18, all segmental girder installation for section CT-TX4 of the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge expressway north approach project was completed, marking the full connection of the Changtai Bridge north approach project.

The Changtai Yangtze River Bridge north approach runs from north to south, connecting the Shanghai-Shaanxi Expressway and the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge, with a total length of 22.382 kilometers, built to a two-way six-lane expressway standard. The CT-TX4 section undertaken by CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. has a route length of approximately 5.76 kilometers, mainly including construction of the foundation and substructure of the expressway north approach bridge, prefabrication of segmental girders for the joint-construction section and the north approach bridge, and construction of the north approach bridge superstructure and main line ancillary works.

Prefabrication and assembly is a distinctive feature of the project. With the overall approach of "industrialized design, automated construction, cyclic production mode, intelligent equipment, and information-based management," the project team took the lead domestically and internationally in exploring and achieving automated assembly-line prefabrication of segmental girders. The prefabrication efficiency per girder is at least doubled; at the same production capacity, land occupation is only 30% of the traditional method, and the number of workers is reduced by 40%.

During construction, by optimizing the cast-in-place support for the pier-top segments, the steel input for the support was reduced by 30%, ensuring the support was safe and reliable both during cast-in-place construction of the pier-top segments and when the bridge erection machine was lifting girders at full load. Over 18 months, the installation task of 250 spans and a total of 2,584 segmental girders was successfully completed.

The Changtai Yangtze River Bridge is an important project in the comprehensive three-dimensional transportation corridor of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, crossing the river to connect the cities of Changzhou and Taizhou, with a total length of 10.03 kilometers, of which the joint road-rail section is 5.3 kilometers long. It is the world's first river crossing channel integrating expressway, intercity railway, and ordinary highway. Its main navigation channel bridge, with a main span of 1,208 meters, is the world's largest-span road-rail dual-purpose cable-stayed bridge, and it is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2025. The north approach is a key project in Jiangsu's "15 radial, 6 longitudinal, 10 transverse" expressway network. Once completed, the project will play an important role in improving the regional expressway network, amplifying the resource benefits of the river crossing channel, promoting cross-river linkage between Changzhou and Taizhou, and accelerating the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.