Unbalanced swivel bridge rotated into place in central China

A swivel bridge in central China successfully docked with the approach bridges on Wednesday, after rotating 81 degrees, according to local media.

It set three world records for a swivel bridge – the most unbalanced swing, the widest overpass rotation and the highest number of railways spanned.

Located in downtown Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, the overpass is close to the railway track of Hankou Railway Station. To minimize the disturbance to the busy railway beneath, the swivel bridge was built independently, along the parallel direction of the railway. It was then rotated into place after construction, and aligned with the approach bridges.

The swivel bridge.

The whole process lasted for precisely 103 minutes, starting at 3:04 a.m. BJT to ensure the normal train operation.

One of the factors that made the project difficult was the “imbalance.”

“The pivot of common swivel bridges is positioned in the middle, just like the seesaw we played with in our childhood, while the pivot of this one is shifted one-third to one side,” said Guo Zhaoying from China Railway 11 Bureau Group, chief engineer of the project.

The longer side of the swivel bridge is 105 meters, 47 meters longer than the shorter side. The longer side, accordingly, is 3,600 tons heavier than the shorter, Guo added.

A team was set up to tackle the technical problems during the unbalanced rotation, and it was made with groundbreaking construction methods.

The bridge while rotating.

The project has effectively solved the problems brought by the limitation of site and the unbalanced swing, and saved over 100 million yuan (about 15.9 million US dollars).

(CGTN)