Recently, the steel girders of the Toutun River Connecting Line Grand Bridge in Urumqi were successfully erected, achieving full-span closure of the bridge. This marks a major breakthrough in the construction of the Urumqi Ring Expressway (West Line) project and injects new vitality into regional economic development.

The Toutun River Connecting Line Grand Bridge is a key controlling project of the Urumqi Ring Expressway (West Line). With a total length of 2,284 meters and a height of 126 meters, it is formed by connecting the west approach bridge, the main bridge, and the east approach bridge. The bridge adopts four different bridge-type designs, and is known for its diverse structures and complex construction technology. The main bridge has a single span exceeding 150 meters, and its continuous rigid-frame span is the longest in all of Xinjiang. Its underground pile foundations are 100 meters deep, and the bridge is 123.8 meters high, equivalent to a 45-story building. It is currently the tallest pier among bridges of the same type under construction in Xinjiang.

During construction, the building team faced many difficulties. In the gorge wind area, wind forces reach up to Level 12. The construction team adopted climbing formwork construction and wind-resistant scaffold pipe systems to ensure construction safety and quality. For the construction of super-long variable cross-section pile foundations, they self-made tip-fixing plates to secure the reinforcement cages and adopted continuous concrete pouring technology. All pile foundation results for the entire bridge were tested as Class I piles. To ensure the precision and efficiency of steel girder erection for the east approach bridge, a 132-meter-long bridge erection machine was used for erecting 150-ton girder segments. The construction team closely monitored all data during the construction process, adjusted construction parameters in a timely manner, overcame technical difficulties in the steel girder erection process, and ensured the smooth closure of the steel girders.

The completion of the Toutun River Connecting Line Grand Bridge will significantly shorten travel time from the Bainiaohu area to the northern part of the city and to Changji, promote the westward expansion of Urumqi's urban space, and accelerate the pace of building Xinjiang into the western gateway for the Belt and Road Initiative. At the same time, it will provide an efficient logistics channel for industrial parks such as Bayi Steel, strongly promote the coordinated development of regional industries, and drive the high-quality economic and social development of the Urumqi metropolitan area.