ISLAMABAD, August 3 (INP): China has made great progress in bridge construction in recent years. The ongoing construction of the Hong Kong Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the second Humen Bridge, are two good examples. The second Humen Bridge, which is 12.89 kilometers long, is designed to handle 140,000 vehicles a day. The new link across the Pearl River is set to ease traffic on the Humen Bridge currently in operation. The second Humen Bridge, with a total length of 12.89 kilometers, is designed to handle 140,000 vehicles a day.

Photo by Global Times Ge Yaojun, vice chairman of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, said China was now the worlds leader in terms of bridge-building technology. He made the remark last year while visiting the second Humen Bridge under construction. The bridge, built by the Second Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, under China Communications Construction Company, has tackled many technological barriers.

The bridges main cables are firmly held like in a tug of war by two gigantic concrete blocks with total weight equal to nine Liaoning aircraft carriers. Each main cable, which is 2,170 meters long and 85.1 centimeters in diameter, consists of 42,926 steel wires. Drones were used to deliver a pilot rope to connect two sides of the bridge, said Yang Min, deputy manager of the S2 section of the bridge.

Construction workers have now gotten used to the height because every day they have to do catwalk on the 1.2- kilometer distance, which is 60 to 191 meters above sea level. The S3 section or the approach bridge is 40 meters above sea level. To build the bridge, an erecting crane was first used to put together and reinforce 12 small blocks weighing 140 tons. The enormous block was then lifted to pave the deck of the bridge.

The error margin was reduced to 5 milli meters. Based on the precision, Chinese engineers have improved bridge-building craft in a bid to speed up construction. Workers now pave 45 meters in 10 days, using innovated technology. In Europe, it takes 15 to 18 days to finish the same area. Two erecting cranes, one imported and the other domestically-built, were used to build the bridge. The home-made piece of equipment, costing RMB 50 million half the price of the imported one outperformed the latter in the construction process, a construction worker said.

Credit/INP-wealthpk