HSR making smooth progress in western China

Amid the country's latest push to increase the operating mileage of railways, constructors from China Railway No 4 Engineering Group have completed building the nation's first large-span rod-tied arch bridge with cable suspension on a high-speed railway.

The 443.1-meter railway bridge, traversing the Yingshan-Dazhou Expressway in the prefecture-level city of Dazhou in Sichuan province, consists of three parallel bridges — a main bridge on the Xi'an-Chongqing High-Speed Railway, as well as the left and right connecting bridges.

The whole bridge has been built in three stages. The first was completed on July 11, 2025, with the main arch bridge measuring 147 meters in length, weighing 2,600 metric tons and being 17 meters wide. The second stage, the left link bridge, was completed on Dec 17, 2025, and weighs 1,531 tons, which is 136 meters in length and 11.4 meters wide. The third stage, the right link bridge, has now been completed and weighs 1,531 tons. It is 136 meters in length and 11.4 meters wide.

Gong Haibin, Party secretary of the 7th unit of the CREC4 project in Dazhou, said the Xi'an-Chongqing HSR — part of the Beijing-Kunming HSR and a component of China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" HSR network — passes through the municipalities and provinces of Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Yunnan.

On Jan 4, during China Railway's working conference, the Chinese railway operator announced it would expand the country's HSR from the current 50,000 kilometers to 60,000 km by end-2030.

According to Beijing-Kunming HSR Xi'an-Kunming Co, the new arch bridge is sitting on the 478-km Ankang-Chongqing section of Xi'an-Chongqing HSR, which links Ankang in Shaanxi, Dazhou and Guang'an in Sichuan, and Chongqing.

Wang Junlou, chief engineer of Dazhou Command of Beijing-Kunming HSR Xi'an-Kunming Co, said the CREC4 builders have adhered to "precision control" and "process coordination" to systematically control the key links such as the installation of tie-rod arch supports, suspension cable positioning, steel structure docking and welding, and the multi-process connection of beams and arches.

He noted that at present, the Ankang-Chongqing section has entered a critical stage of beam erecting, station building as well as power engineering.

Zeng Yan, a bridge specialist on the Xi'an-Chongqing HSR project at China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, said the innovative arch bridge employs a grid-type hanger structure, making it the country's largest grid-type hanger cable-stayed arch bridge on a high-speed railway.

Yan Mingsai, manager of the Xi'an-Chongqing HSR project department from CREC4, said his colleagues have explored the application of "four new" technologies to effectively guarantee the engineering quality and construction safety.

The Ankang-Chongqing section starts from Ankang West Station and passes through Ankang, Chengkou county under Chongqing, Dazhou and Guang'an, Hechuan district and Beibei district in Chongqing, before joining Chongqing West Station.

There will be four stations — Fankuai, Xuanhan South, Dazhou South and Dazhu — in Dazhou, offering a full coverage of high-speed rail across all six counties, county-level cities and districts.

Upon operation, the Xi'an-Chongqing HSR will be able to link with lines such as the Chengdu-Chongqing HSR, Xi'an-Yan'an HSR, Zhengzhou-Chongqing HSR, as well as the Chongqing-Kunming HSR, bolstering the transport network in central and western regions and facilitating the development of western China.

hanjingyan@chinadaily.com.cn