Connecting Pudong, Changxing and Chongming
The route begins at Wuhaogou in Pudong, passes Changxing Island and reaches Chenjiazhen on Chongming. A tunnel crosses the Yangtze’s southern channel and a bridge its northern channel. Together with island approach roads, the approximately 25.5-kilometer route allows vehicles to travel continuously from mainland Shanghai to Chongming.
Before completion, Chongming relied on water transport for external connections. At an October 2009 municipal press conference, Huang Rong discussed weather disruption to residents’ journeys and holiday ferry congestion. The new crossing offered travel without taking vehicles aboard ferries. Island bus services and adjustments to existing ferries were also important subjects before opening.
Design Evaluation and Tunnel Construction
The scheme followed years of evaluation. An international design solicitation in 2001 led to the southern tunnel and northern bridge combination; construction began on 28 December 2004. Huang Rong’s 2008 engineering volume describes the division of responsibilities between the construction command organization and the project company, which handled financing, construction and daily implementation.
The southern tunnel is approximately 8.95 kilometers long, with twin shield-driven tubes beneath the river. Two 15.43-meter-diameter tunneling machines excavated through soft ground, followed by linings of precast reinforced concrete segments. Long drives, water pressure, waterproof joints and installation of internal structures required coordination between engineering research and site work.
References: [1]
The Northern Cable-Stayed Bridge and Wind Tests
The northern navigation channel is crossed by a cable-stayed bridge with two towers, two cable planes, separated steel box girders and a 730-meter main span. Its deck and stay cables form the load-bearing river-crossing system. Wind conditions at the Yangtze estuary made aerodynamic behavior a specific research concern.
Li Zhou and Yaojun Ge conducted sectional-model wind-tunnel tests comparing vortex-induced vibration with and without vehicles. Under the tested conditions, vehicles changed the girder’s aerodynamic profile as well as vibration amplitudes and modes. Evaluation therefore needed to consider the combined vehicle–bridge system. The experiments provided evidence for assessing wind performance under traffic.
Road Space and Evacuation
The route was built as a six-lane highway with space reserved for rail transport. Below the tunnel’s road level, rail reservations and related passages were incorporated, requiring coordination of road traffic and possible future rail use during design.
At the 2009 press conference, Huang described evacuation using transverse and longitudinal routes. Cross-passages connect the two tunnels, while exits from the road level lead to lower evacuation space. Rail remained a reservation at that time; the highway opening did not bring rail into service simultaneously. These provisions extended crossing design to routine operation and emergency organization.
Opening on 31 October 2009
The government’s 29 October notice specified public opening at 18:00 on 31 October. Xinhua’s opening-day dispatch records the start of traffic: vehicles entered the tunnel at Wuhaogou, passed Changxing and continued north over the bridge to Chongming.
The opening changed connections previously dependent on ferries. Contemporary reporting described a drive of just over 20 minutes from Pudong to Chenjiazhen. Bus access to the crossing and connections between island and mainland routes were progressively arranged. Further road-network development and service organization continued to shape residents’ journeys.
Monitoring and Research During Operation
After opening, structural health monitoring supplied measurements for maintenance and management. A 2018 study by Zhou Yi, Sun Limin and Xie Mowen used observations from the Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge to investigate the relationship between temperature changes and vertical displacement at midspan, explaining results through geometric analysis and a finite-element model.
Deck movement cannot be inferred simply from air temperature. Different thermal effects in the stay cables, girder and towers act together. Distinguishing these normal environmental effects helps interpret monitoring data. Research on structure and construction thus continued into observation, analysis and maintenance after the crossing opened.
References: [3]