Photo courtesy of Zhejiang Communications Group

At 2:50 a.m. on August 1, after 15 construction workers fought continuously, and as the last batch of concrete was smoothly poured into the formwork, the (51+100+51)-meter continuous girder at piers 3-4 of the Jinhua-Jiande Railway's extra-large bridge over the Hangzhou-Xin'an-Jingdezhen Expressway, owned by Zhejiang Communications Group, was successfully closed. This marks the completion of closure for all five spans of continuous girders of the extra-large bridge over the Hangzhou-Xin'an-Jingdezhen Expressway, laying a solid foundation for subsequent box girder erection and track laying.

Photo courtesy of Zhejiang Communications Group

"The extra-large bridge over the Hangzhou-Xin'an-Jingdezhen Expressway is located in Jiande, with a total length of 2,396.09 m, 58 piers and abutments, and 5 spans of continuous girders, with the tallest pier reaching 36.5 meters. After crossing the Lin'an-Jinhua Expressway on double tracks, the bridge splits into left and right lines, respectively crossing over National Highway G320 and the Hangzhou-Xin'an-Jingdezhen Expressway, posing great construction difficulty and high safety risks," said a relevant person in charge of the Jinhua-Jiande Command.

The double-track continuous girder completed in this pouring crosses over the Lin'an-Jinhua Expressway and was constructed using the cantilever pouring method with form travelers. Block 0# and the straight segment of the side span were constructed using a triangular bracket structure, while the remaining 12×4 standard segments were constructed using the cantilever method with form travelers. The central variable cross-section segment No. 13 was poured using the cantilever method with form travelers after the side-span closure and before the mid-span closure.

To ensure project quality, the workers avoided high temperatures to ensure that concrete pouring took place at a suitable temperature. Starting at 23:00, they completed the pouring of 36 cubic meters of concrete over nearly 4 hours, ensuring the smooth closure of the continuous girder.

It is reported that the Jinhua-Jiande Railway has a total investment of 11.921 billion yuan and a total length of 64.51 kilometers. It starts from Jinhua Station, runs north through Lanxi City and Jiande City, and connects to Jiande Station. It is a double-track high-speed railway with a design speed of 250 kilometers per hour.

Once completed, it will open up a railway outlet in the northwest direction of Jinhua, create a new railway corridor directly connecting to Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu and other provinces, fill the gap of no high-speed rail access in Lanxi City, and greatly facilitate travel for residents along the line.