Difference between revisions of "Shuanghekou Bridge"

Revision as of 01:03, 6 October 2009

Shuanghekou Bridge
双河口大桥
Longtan, Hubei, China
666 feet high / 203 meters high
558 foot span / 170 meter span
2009

Located about 40 miles (64 km) south of the famous 3 Gorges region of the Yangtze river in China’s mountainous Hubei Province, Shuanghekou is just one of several towering prestressed concrete beam bridges on the last 300 mile (483 km) link of the 1,350 mile (2,175 km) long West Hurongxi highway that now connects Shanghai on the Pacific coast with the cities of Chongqing and Chengdu in the west. The last in a parade of 3 high bridges that lead up to the Siduhe tunnel and Siduhe bridge, Shuanghekou crosses a rugged, V-shaped river valley 666 feet (203 mtrs) deep. The most notable design element of the bridge is the extremely high center pier of 535 feet (163 meters). Straddling it are two main spans of 558 feet (170 meters). The parallel viaducts are of unequal length with one side having a configuration of 4x30+90+2x170+90+7x30 and the other side 3x30+90+2x170+90+4x30.

The entire West Hurongxi highway is nothing less than the greatest stretch of roadway engineering ever undertaken. It is home to no less than 10 bridges that exceed 500 feet (152 meters) including Siduhe, the world’s highest bridge and Zhijinghe, the highest roadway arch. Among concrete beam bridge viaducts it has the two highest in the world over the Mashui and Longtan rivers. This more direct route bypasses one of the toughest and most mountainous stretches of the Yangtze river. What once took more than a day of travel on dangerous dirt roads or a Yangtze river boat can now be safely traversed in 5 hours.