On October 12, with the pouring of the final pile foundation completed, all pile foundation work on the Quanzhou Baiqi Channel project was finished, and the construction focus has steadily shifted to the superstructure, entering a critical phase.

How difficult is construction in these waters? The project is located at the mouth of the Luoyang River, where the geological conditions are far from easy to deal with: the strata contain numerous boulders and fault zones, the rock surface undulates sharply, and the rock layers have extremely high compressive strength. Some areas feature cliff-like rock surfaces, compounded by ocean tides, wind and waves, and a highly corrosive seawater environment. This is a typical offshore construction scenario of "poor geological conditions plus large-diameter, variable-diameter, ultra-long piles."

The challenges are daunting, but construction must proceed regardless. The project construction team fully took into account the actual offshore construction conditions and carried out targeted technical research, developing construction techniques and equipment suited to different geological conditions, pile diameters, and pile lengths to ensure that pile foundation quality meets design and specification requirements.

The main tower is also "sprinting." As the pile foundation work wraps up successfully, the main bridge cable tower—the controlling project of the entire line—has completed installation of the steel anchor beams and is now carrying out construction of the 27th segment, with the main tower expected to be topped out by the end of this year. It is reported that the main bridge is a 2×168-meter single-tower, double-cable-plane, split-type steel-concrete composite girder fully floating cable-stayed bridge. It is the first cable-stayed bridge in Fujian Province to adopt spatially twisted double cable planes, a design that organically integrates Quanzhou's "Erythrina (Zhitong) culture" elements with modern bridge technology.

The Baiqi Channel project is a key project for Fujian Province and Quanzhou City. The main line starts at the intersection of Baidong Avenue and Luosha Avenue in the Quanzhou Taiwanese Investment Zone, crosses over Haiwan Avenue and the Luoyang River, and ends at the intersection of Fenghai Road and Fudong Road in Fengze District, with a total length of 3.416 kilometers. The project includes a sea-crossing mega bridge and two interchange bridges, built to the standard of a Class I highway combined with an urban trunk road. The main line is designed for a speed of 60 km/h, the river-crossing section uses dual-direction eight lanes, and the mainline bridge in the interchange area uses dual-direction six lanes. In addition, the Baiqi Channel is the first in the city to adopt a design of "separate levels for motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles, and separation of pedestrians and non-motor vehicles": the upper deck of the bridge is for motor vehicles, while the lower decks on both sides are for "separated pedestrian and non-motor vehicle" traffic. Once completed, the project will greatly ease traffic pressure on the Houzhu Bridge, improve the urban cluster trunk road network on both banks of the Luoyang River, strengthen links between the Donghai area and the Taiwanese Investment Zone, help build the core area around Quanzhou Bay, and provide a convenient corridor for industrial integration and residents' travel on both sides of the Luoyang River.

Source: Quanzhou Net