Quanzhou Baiqi Passage installs main pylon anchor beams

The No 11 steel anchor beam for the main pylon of the Quanzhou Baiqi Passage, built by CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Co (CCCC SHEC), was lifted into place with high precision.

The Quanzhou Baiqi Passage stretches 3.42 kilometers in total. Its main bridge, the route's critical control work, is a floating system single-pylon, double-cable-plane split steel-concrete composite girder cable-stayed bridge with a span arrangement of 168 meters + 168 meters. The main bridge has a total length of 336 meters, and its cable pylon rises 133.5 meters. Shaped after the city flower of Quanzhou, the erythrina, the pylon resembles an "erythrina torch". This marks Fujian province's first cable-stayed bridge adopting spatially twisted double cable planes.

Steel anchor beams serve as the core load-bearing components of the stay cable anchorage system and play a vital role in transmitting stay cable forces. Eleven steel anchor beams are arranged on the main pylon. The project team faced multiple challenges: stringent positioning tolerances for stay cables in the spatially twisted double cable-plane design, high risks associated with high-altitude offshore operations, and frequent impacts from typhoons and monsoons.

To address these hurdles, the team carried out in-depth simulation and analysis using BIM technology, refined and optimized the special hoisting plan, arranged on-site guidance from experts and survey-design personnel, and implemented precise surveying and real-time monitoring throughout the process. Together with adjustable high-precision positioning brackets at the pylon, these measures ensured accurate installation of the steel anchor beams.

The project team will continue to enforce safety and quality control, proceed with subsequent pylon concreting and superstructure construction, and deliver the main pylon topping-out as scheduled.

The No 11 steel anchor beam for the main pylon of the Quanzhou Baiqi Passage is lifted into place with high precision. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Quanzhou Baiqi Passage stretches 3.42 kilometers in total. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]