The waters off the coast of Shuangliu Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan have been getting a special visitor recently in the form of the Yangtze finless porpoise, also known as the “giant panda in the water”.
The bridge, still under construction, at 1,430 meters long and 50.5 meters wide, is currently the widest steel box girder suspension bridge on the Yangtze River, is managed by the CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company Ltd., a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC).
Situated near the Zhangdu Lake Wetland, the project prioritizes green construction and the protection of the Yangtze River, aiming to safeguard and restore the surrounding environment.
As well as working to prevent water pollution, the project’s managers have also implemented measures to reduce noise and dust pollution, creating a safer environment for the finless porpoises and other wildlife.
In September 2022, as the foundations were laid for the main pier on the north bank of the bridge, large amounts of slurry containing bentonite, soda ash and other chemicals were produced, raising the danger of serious water pollution if they weren’t treated promptly.
As the trucks on site could no longer cope with the demands of transporting the large loads of slurry, the project team then optimized their processes to ensure both environmental protection and continued progress in the bridge’s construction.
After extensive discussions, the team decided to use a filter press – a device commonly employed in urban sewage treatment. The filter press allowed for the slurry to be pumped directly out, then squeezed and filtered into clear water that can be discharged directly as “dry cakes” that are easier to transport.
During the four-month-long construction of the bridge’s caisson diaphragm wall, the filter press processed nearly 30,000 cubic meters of slurry. The filtered water was then reused for dust control, and the waste residue was transported to the disposal sites for recycling and green discharge.
In late autumn 2023, as steel components were put into place, the main tower of the bridge began to rise at an average rate of nearly one meter per day, yet as much of the construction was completed inside the independently-developed, new-generation intelligent tower-building machine, the site remained largely quiet.
Additionally, thanks to the roll-out of China’s first flexible production line for steel mesh in Wuhan, noise-generating tasks such as steel processing and welding were moved off-site to a workshop. The project team also employed a fully-enclosed, environmentally-friendly concrete batching plant, prohibited horn honking on site, and added structures that, along with surrounding trees, formed a sound barrier. These measures combined to protect the habitat of the finless porpoises.
CCCC says it aims to continue to develop environmental protection practices that safeguard the natural habitat of Yangtze finless porpoise.
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