The bridge in the clouds

[AndrewJin]

Qingshuihe Bridge After Inauguration in 2016

Guiyang-Weng'an Expressway
Guizhou Province, Southwest China

Qingshuihe= clear water river

In 2016 Qingshuihe Bridge surpassed Balinghe Bridge as the highest and longest suspension span in Guizhou Province. The giant new crossing is part of the Guiweng expressway 贵瓮高速公路 that connects the capital city of Guiyang with Weng'an. The 230 and 224 meter tall towers support a steel truss main span of 1,130 meters that ranks among the 20 longest spans on earth.

An alternate Qingshui River crossing several kilometers to the south was studied that would have had an even greater deck height but the main span would have been much smaller. The highway planners may well have decided to go with the northern route knowing their bridge could then become an even bigger and higher "sequel" to the famous Balinghe Bridge.

Qingshuihe Bridge is one of at least a dozen major suspension bridges that have opened in China since 2009 that have span lengths of approximately a kilometer or longer and deck heights of 200 to 500 meters.

Qingshuihe might also hold the record for the fastest construction ever for a bridge over 1 kilometer in length with a total construction time of 3 years. Crews were reportedly working 7 days a week on multiple shifts including holidays.

 

[艹艹艹]

http://house.ifeng.com/pic/2016_12/04/38878114_0.shtml#p=1

 

[AndrewJin]

http://house.ifeng.com/pic/2016_12/04/38878114_0.shtml#p=1

There are many giant bridges over this Yachihe River.
The one you mentioned is on the Chengdu-Guiyang High-speed Railway under construction.

There is another expressway bridge on this river already open to the public months ago.

With a height of over 400 meters, the Yachi Bridge is not only the world's second highest cable stayed bridge but also one of the longest with a main span of 800 meters. Wedged between two long tunnels, the 1,461 meter long structure is supported by towers as tall as 258 meters. There is no other cable stayed bridge in the world in a mountain setting as colossal as Yachi Bridge. The 800 meter span is also a record for any truss-deck cable stayed crossing.

Despite an official height of over 400 meters, Yachi Bridge is actually only 306 meters above the surface of a huge reservoir more then 130 meters deep formed by the Yachi Dam that is located just 2 kilometers downstream. The road deck is at elevation 1,276 with the surface of the reservoir at 970 meters. The original river level was at 842 meters.

With steep slopes on both sides of the canyon, Yachi Bridge has unusually short but heavy concrete back spans of only 220 meters that counteract the pull of each of the 400 meter halfs of the 800 meter main span. The span configuration is 71+72+77+800+77+72+71 +8x30 meters. Yachi is the largest bridge on the 77 kilometer Guiyang to Qianxi 贵阳至黔西高速公路 expressway.

Yachi is one of several dozen bridges over the Wu River that are over 100 meters high. No other river on earth has as many high spans across its waters then the Wujiang. The Province of Guizhou has more high bridges within its borders then any other region on earth. All of the high bridges in Europe combined would not equal the number of Guizhou spans that exceed 100 meters in height.

Yachi Bridge might also hold the record for the fastest construction ever for a large size cable stayed span with a total construction time of 3 years. Crews were reportedly working 7 days a week on multiple shifts including holidays.