The steel caisson of the No.6 pier of the Yangtze River Bridge connecting Changzhou and Taixing sunk in position with precision on January 28. The project was designed by China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance & Design Institute Co., Ltd. and constructed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. The sinking refreshed the world record in the construction of large-scale steel caissons under complex geological condition of super-thick silty hardpan.
The steel caisson of the No.6 pier is dead-weight and erosion mitigating terraced caisson. The base is round and measures 95 meters in length, 57.8 meters in width and 64 meters in height. The size equals to that of 13 standard basketball courts. The caisson has 36 well holes made of concrete and structures, which weigh more than 220,000 tons. The structures bear the loading of a bridge straddling more than 1,000 meters. During the sinking, the construction team used 26 sets of intelligent equipment, enabling an average sinking speed of 25 centimeters per day, the fastest under complex geological condition of super-thick silty hardpan.
The Changzhou-Taixing Yangtze River Bridge integrates transport modes of expressway, inter-city railway and highway. Its main body over the water is a 1,176-meter steel truss cable-stayed bridge.
(Source: China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance & Design Institute Co., Ltd. and China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd.)
