The first of four main tower piers of the Jinhai Avenue Bridge was raised above the water on Dec 5, and construction of the others are well underway, according to China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group.

At a height of 153.4 m (167.8 yd), the double-limb thin-walled Pier 26 features a steel-made upper pylon. Supported by 1,303.8 tons of rebars, its 39.2-m (42.9-yd) lower pylon entails 6,614 cubic meters of reinforced concrete, which will be poured into a compound steel mold over seven sections. The workers are now binding Section III. 

Construction site [Photo by Zhong Fan / Zhuhai Daily]

The steel cofferdam for Main Tower Pier 27 is now being assembled, while the one for Main Tower Pier 29 has been put into position for bottom sealing. Work on Main Tower Pier 28 will wait until the steel cofferdam of Pier 26 is dismantled to ensure reuse of its steel components.

The first combined highway-railway line in the Pearl River Delta estuary, the Jinhai Avenue Bridge starts at Hengqin Erjing Bay (tunnel on West Ring Road), and then runs westward to diverge from the MRT rail line before terminating at Zizhu Bay on East Airport Road.

The main bridge, 1,369 m (1497 yd) long and 49.6 m (54.2 yd) wide, adopts a cantilever four-tower cable-stayed structure comprised of steel box girders. The designated speed is 100 kmph (62 mph) for the dual six-lane highway and 160 kmph (99.5 mph) for the double-track railway in the middle.

Construction of the main bridge involves 27 piers, 462 bored piles, 52,000 tons of steel girders and towers, and 280,000 cubic meters of concrete. So far, work on 319 bored piles, 12 bearing platforms, and six pier bodies has been completed.