Huangpu Bridge: Construction and Opening to Traffic

Huangpu Bridge is a key component of the eastern Guangzhou Ring Expressway, connecting Huangpu and Panyu across the Pearl River. The route joins the existing expressway network at Huocun and reaches the Hualong area after crossing. Together with Longtoushan Tunnel and interchanges, it integrates river-crossing traffic into the expressway system. A 2009 toll-hearing document compared routes for different origins and destinations, showing that some vehicles could avoid detours through city crossings.

The project company was Guangzhou Pearl River Huangpu Bridge Construction Co., Ltd. The approved estimate was 4.115 billion yuan, with 35 percent equity funding and the remainder financed by bank loans. This covered the entire road project, including tunnels and interchanges as well as bridges.

References: [1]

The crossing consists of distinct structural units. The technical report involving Wu Mingyuan divides it into northern approaches, the northern main bridge, central approaches, the southern main bridge and southern approaches. The northern channel has a single-tower cable-stayed bridge with a steel box girder and a 383-meter main span. The southern channel uses a single-span steel-box-girder suspension bridge with a 1,108-meter main span.

The northern bridge’s stay cables transfer deck loads to one main tower, with erection by balanced cantilever. The southern deck hangs beneath the main cables through hangers, while anchorages on both banks resist cable tension. Approach spans connect these different crossing units into one transport route.

References: [2]

Suspension-bridge work extended below ground. Zhang Yongming, Deng Guanqiang and Feng Bingsheng of Guangdong Provincial Changda Highway Engineering Co., Ltd. describe taking the southern anchorage foundation through soft overburden to underlying bedrock. Its excavation was enclosed by a circular diaphragm wall 73 meters in diameter and 1.2 meters thick, without internal transverse supports.

The underground wall was constructed first to provide space for the anchorage foundation. Research focused on trench excavation sequence and the slurry system: trenching, slurry preparation and recycling had to work together to support the trench walls and complete the continuous enclosure. Ground conditions therefore directly shaped equipment, procedures and site organization.

References: [3]

Ai Zhanxiang of the Third Engineering Company of China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group explains that whole-bridge or side-span launching was difficult for the northern bridge. The chosen method assembled steel box girders symmetrically outward from the tower. Luffing capability was added to walking deck cranes so they could work around the tower, side spans and pier tops.

An initial proposal to lift tower-area segments with high-level gantries raised concerns over risk, expense and duplicate equipment. The implemented scheme combined deck cranes with brackets at the tower’s lower crossbeam to install those segments and continue outward. Cranes advanced along the completed deck, linking individual segment installation into a continuous erection process.

References: [4]

The southern bridge report dates the start of its construction to 14 February 2005. Temporary steel trestles connected river work areas to shore; concrete supply facilities were provided on both banks, and hydraulic self-climbing formwork built the towers in stages. Following completion of the anchorage diaphragm walls, pits were excavated in layers and internal linings cast.

Catwalks and hauling systems supported main-cable erection. Cable strands were generally adjusted during periods of more uniform temperature and lower wind. Steel box girders were installed from midspan toward the towers, lifted by cranes traveling along the main cables. Technicians continually compared calculated deformation with measured elevations and adjusted segment positions. The bridge opened to traffic on 16 December 2008.

References: [5]

Southern bridge hangers longer than 20 meters were fitted with dampers. Vibration frequency relates to tension, but dampers change dynamic behavior, so a calculation treating an isolated undamped cable cannot be applied directly. Gan and colleagues incorporated these effects into a finite-element model.

Their paper uses hanger-frequency measurements collected after completion and before traffic began. A dynamic signal-analysis system and acceleration sensors supplied data for estimating cable forces through the model. At the eight upstream hanger positions presented, estimated tensions differed from design values by less than 3.5 percent. This comparison applies to the stated test objects and method, providing evidence for checking their force states.

References: [6]

After opening, bridge and approach-road tolls were combined: the bridge charged by vehicle category per crossing, and the expressway approaches by distance. Between January and June 2009, the whole project recorded an average daily traffic volume of 7,392 vehicles. Once the connection existed, use levels, toll rates and loan repayment became operational questions, prompting a public toll-rate hearing.

References: [1]