Recently, at the command of the on-site construction general commander, the north anchorage caisson of the Jingzhou Libu Yangtze River Rail-Road Bridge—invested in and constructed by Hubei Communications Investment Group and built by China Construction Third Engineering Bureau—officially began its first soil extraction and sinking. In the initial stage, it sinks steadily at a rate of 8 cm/day, and subsequently the rate will be gradually increased to 25 to 30 cm/day according to the special scheme for caisson soil extraction and sinking. The first sinking of the caisson is scheduled to be completed on September 15.

　　The Jingzhou Libu Yangtze River Rail-Road Bridge is a combined rail-road bridge carrying the Jingyue Railway, the realigned Erguang Expressway, and the river-crossing section of a first-class urban highway. With a total length of 1723 meters, the bridge adopts a cable-stayed–suspension collaborative system, crossing the river in a single span with a main span of 1120 meters. The south and north anchorages are the "heavy counterweights" that "plant the bridge firmly on its stance," bearing the tensile force of the main cables and together holding up the main bridge in the future.

　　The north anchorage is designed as a gravity anchorage with a total of 25 well holes. The caisson measures 76.0 meters in length and 68.0 meters in width—about the size of 12.3 standard basketball courts—and is 32.5 meters high, divided into 6 sections. The caisson is sunk in two stages overall, with the first drainage sinking depth being 11.5 meters.

　　To ensure the stability of the caisson's posture before its first sinking and to avoid deviation during the raising and splicing process, Jingchu Construction Company and all participating parties planned ahead and made careful arrangements, reinforcing the soft foundation with sand piles plus a sand cushion before steel shell assembly. During the sinking stage, the critical soil extraction control method is adopted: within the caisson's plan area, soil extraction is controlled from the inside outward, by zone and by layer throughout the sinking process. In addition, 189 high-precision sensors have been embedded at key positions on the bottom and side walls of the north anchorage caisson. Together with a digital intelligent monitoring system, they collect key parameter information in real time—such as structural stress and geometric posture during caisson sinking—ensuring the quality of the caisson sinking construction and laying a solid foundation for accelerating the construction of the Libu Yangtze River Bridge.