Yichang Yangtze River Bridge project wins international award
By Shen Yuan, Yichang International Communication Studio
A Yangtze River Bridge project has become the first Chinese candidate to win an international award for innovative housing and infrastructure projects.
The Yichang Yangtze River Bridge steel box girder repair and reinforcement project won the 2023 UHPC Innovation Award - Best Innovation in Infrastructure Rehabilitation at the Third International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) in Wilmington, Iowa, USA. It's the first time a Chinese project has won this award.
The World UHPC Conference was founded in 2016 by Iowa State University. There are five major UHPC innovation awards: Innovation in Housing Structures, Construction, Infrastructure Bridges, Infrastructure Small Bridges and Infrastructure Retrofitting. The conference attracted more than 260 UHPC experts from 14 countries.
The Yichang Yangtze River Bridge is one of the 10 bridges across the Yangtze River in Yichang. Nine of them have been completed and one is under construction. Yichang has more bridges across the Yangtze River than any other city in China.
▲ Zhicheng Yangtze River Bridge
The first Yangtze River bridge – the Zhicheng Yangtze River Bridge – opened to the public in September 1971. It was originally designed as a railway bridge. During the construction, a road deck was added.
▲ Xiling Yangtze River Bridge
In August 1996, the Xiling Yangtze River Bridge opened. The bridge is located 4.5 kilometres downstream from the Three Gorges Dam. Tourists have to cross the bridge to reach the dam.
▲ Yichang Yangtze River Bridge
The Yichang Yangtze River Bridge was completed in September 2001. It connects Yidu City and Xiaoting District on the two banks of the river.
▲ Yiling Yangtze River Bridge
The Yiling Yangtze River Bridge linked the north and south banks of Yichang city area in December 2001.
▲ Zhixi Yangtze River Bridge
The Zhixi Yangtze River Bridge opened to traffic in July 2016. It is located 2.7km downstream of Gezhouba Dam. To protect the Chinese sturgeon – a protected species of fish – the bridge has no bridge pier in the middle of the river and uses parapet lights that do not shine directly into the river.
▲ Yiwan Railway Yichang Yangtze River Bridge
To solve the Three Gorges shipping bottleneck, Yichang City has built a multimodal transport system. The Yiwan Railway Yichang Yangtze River Bridge opened to traffic in December 2010.
▲ Zigui Yangtze River Bridge
The Zigui Yangtze River Bridge was opened in September 2019. It connects the Three Gorges Dam tourist area with five other nearby tourist areas.
▲ Yidu Yangtze River Bridge
The completion of the Yidu Yangtze River Bridge in February 2021 cut driving time from Wuhan to Yidu by nearly an hour.
▲ Wujiagang Yangtze River Bridge
The Wujiagang Yangtze River Bridge was opened in August 2021. Like the Zhixi Yangtze River Bridge, it has no piers in the river so as not to disturb the lives of Chinese sturgeon.
The Bailizhou Yangtze River Bridge is expected to open to traffic in 2025. It will connect the river island of Bailizhou to both the north and south banks of the river.
