In the early hours of July 14, with the completion of the final concrete pour, the main structure of the East Upper Cover Platform of the Chengdu Station reconstruction and expansion project on the Chengdu-Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway was successfully topped out. With this, the main structure of the Chengdu Station elevated plaza, with a total area of 96,000 square meters, has been fully completed, marking that this super hub in the north of the city has officially entered the critical stage of decoration and steel structure installation.

Entering July, Chengdu has experienced sustained high temperatures, posing considerable challenges to outdoor construction. At the construction site of the Chengdu Station reconstruction and expansion project, the reporter observed that despite the scorching sun, construction proceeded in an orderly manner, with workers wearing safety helmets and reflective vests carrying out their tasks in an orderly fashion at their respective posts.

To cope with the high temperatures, the project department adopted a staggered construction strategy of "working at both ends and resting in the middle," adjusting working hours to avoid the midday heat. At the same time, multiple sunshade facilities were set up at the construction site, and heatstroke prevention medicines such as Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid and essential balm were provided. The canteen also offers cool beverages such as mung bean soup and herbal tea, available to workers at any time.

"We implement rotating shifts to prevent workers from prolonged exposure to the scorching sun, ensuring construction safety while also ensuring that the project schedule is not affected," said Wang Lun, Party branch secretary of the Chengdu Station building project of China Railway No. 8 Engineering Group. The project department has also specially arranged emergency vehicles so that in the event of an emergency at the site, patients can be sent to the hospital within 10 minutes. On the other hand, in coordination with the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, doctors are arranged to visit the site twice a week to examine workers, closely monitoring the physical condition of the workers to ensure that construction proceeds safely and orderly during the high-temperature season.

Looking out from the construction site, the huge concrete platform spanning the station yard has been fully laid out, with the upper cover platforms on the east and west sides spreading out like two wings, integrated with the main station building in the middle. According to the plan, this elevated plaza with a total area of 96,000 square meters will in the future be transformed into an "aerial city living room" integrating waiting and passage, leisure and sightseeing, and supporting services.

"The east upper cover section topped out today is an important part of the entire elevated plaza," Yang Jie, chief engineer of the Chengdu Station building project department of China Railway No. 8 Engineering Group, told reporters. The entire elevated plaza is divided into upper cover platforms on the east and west sides and, in the middle, a transit road and a drop-off platform. After completion, citizens and passengers will not only be able to transfer between transport modes here but also take walks and relax, equivalent to moving a park onto the elevated structure.

From the project renderings, it can be clearly seen that the future elevated plaza will be covered with landscaped greenery, pedestrian walkways and leisure spaces, completely breaking the impression of traditional railway stations where "there is only rushing along and no stopping," and achieving an organic integration of a transport hub with urban public space.

Although the elevated plaza now looks flat and spectacular, the construction process required enormous effort. Because the construction site is adjacent to the operating Metro Line 1, the underground pipelines are complex, and in addition the construction space is limited and cross-operations are intensive, the construction difficulty far exceeds that of ordinary civil engineering projects.

"During the underground construction stage, we adopted a method of construction while probing, and as a result we also discovered pipelines from the 1950s underground, which fully reflects the complexity of the underground pipelines," Yang Jie said. According to him, relocating and modifying underground pipelines consumed the most effort, and ensuring the safe and stable operation of Metro Line 1 tested their "craftsmanship" even more. The project team adopted a series of special protection technologies, including full-casing follow-up for pile foundations with full rotation, sectional support for foundation pits, and negative-pressure pipe roof capping, to minimize disturbance to the metro line from construction. "It is equivalent to putting a protective cover over the metro, so that no matter how construction proceeds above, the metro operation below is unaffected."

Facing the construction challenge of an extremely large-area limit structure, the project team also innovatively adopted the "skip-pour method" construction technique—dividing the super-large floor slab into 84 blocks and pouring them in stages in a flow-line manner, like playing Chinese checkers. This method can effectively control structural cracks and ensure project quality.

Up to now, core civil engineering works such as the main structure of the elevated plaza upper cover and the east transit passage have all been completed, laying a solid foundation for subsequent decoration and renovation construction.

As a key supporting project of the Chengdu-Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway, after the Chengdu Station reconstruction and expansion is completed, the station yard scale will be expanded from the original 6 platforms and 12 tracks to 10 platforms and 18 tracks, and the station building area will reach 80,000 square meters. It will mainly undertake the passenger transport function of the Chengdu-Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway and can effectively relieve the passenger flow pressure on Chengdu East Station and Chengdu West Station.

More importantly, this new hub will integrate multiple transport resources such as high-speed rail, regional express rail, urban metro and public transport, building a multi-mode three-dimensional transport network and achieving seamless connection and convenient transfer among various transport modes. Passengers can transfer to the metro right after getting off the high-speed train and board a bus right after leaving the station building, truly achieving "zero transfer."

After the project is completed and put into use, it will alleviate problems such as traffic congestion and mixed pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the northern part of the city, and promote the comprehensive upgrading of regional transport from a model of scattered stations to an integrated hub cluster.

It is worth mentioning that the new station building also deeply explores the cultural connotations of the Bashu region, extracting the traditional textures of Shu brocade and bamboo weaving. Its overall form highlights the grand imagery of a "city gate tower," achieving an organic integration of the heritage of Bashu traditional culture with the style of a modern transport building.

Up to now, the concrete main structure of the Chengdu Station building has been completed, and processes such as steel structure installation, roof paving and interior decoration are steadily advancing. The overall appearance of a modern comprehensive transport hub has initially taken shape. It is expected that the Chengdu Station reconstruction and expansion project will be completed and put into use simultaneously with the Chengdu-Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway, and in the future this place will become a key point connecting Chengdu and Chongqing.

Source: Chengdu Release