Road‑deck section of Shituo Yangtze River Bridge closed for Yu‑Wan high‑speed railway

According to China Railway Group Limited, the road‑bridge section of Shituo Yangtze River Bridge, a key control structure for the Chongqing‑Wanzhou high‑speed railway, achieved closure on 26 September. 

The construction work was undertaken by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Bureau and China Railway Jiuqiao Engineering. The milestone lays solid groundwork for subsequent surfacing works and installation of ancillary facilities.

Located in Fuling District of Chongqing, Shituo Yangtze River Bridge stretches 1 416.9 metres in total, with its main span section running for 1 056 metres. It is designed as a double‑pylon cable‑stayed bridge with combined steel‑concrete girders, where highway and high‑speed railway lanes sit on the same deck but run in separate sections. Once fully completed, the bridge will establish four global records. 

Its No 6 main pylon rises to 253 metres, the tallest double pylon across the world. The main span of 608 metres represents the longest span for this category of combined rail‑road cable‑stayed bridge. It also ranks as the world’s first under‑construction rail‑road bridge adopting double‑pylon configuration, together with the first‑ever split‑deck main girder layout for combined road‑and‑rail traffic.

On‑site construction teams deployed an intelligent monitoring system to track the attitude, stress and deformation of steel girders round the clock. The system automatically identifies millimetre‑level deviations and triggers early warnings, raising overall construction accuracy and working efficiency. 

A smart construction management platform was also set up to integrate data concerning construction progress, safety standards, quality control and material supplies. Shared data access enables coordinated work between all participating contractors and supports the digital‑driven upgrading of conventional bridge‑building workflows.

The Chongqing‑Wanzhou high‑speed railway forms a vital component of China’s national eight‑vertical‑eight‑horizontal high‑speed‑rail network. Running from Chongqing East Railway Station to Wanzhou North Railway Station, the main line measures roughly 254 kilometres with a designed operating speed of 350 kilometres per hour. 

After opening, the new line will substantially cut travelling times between central Chongqing and the urban clusters of the Three‑Gorges Reservoir region in north‑eastern Chongqing.