With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the countries and regions along the Belt and Road in China have drawn magnificent pictures, among which the construction of bridges is a highlight. This golden sign not only represents the extraordinary strength of "built in China", but is also an important symbol showing China's social development achievements and comprehensive national strength.

Bridge of dreams and hope

In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, there is a continuous flow on the Epan Bridge across the Pasig River. The two-way 4-lane design has greatly improved the traffic here.

Not long ago, the traffic between Makati and Mandaluyong, the two central cities in the Manila area, also caused headaches for the residents of the two places who frequent work and life. There was originally a bridge here, but the two-way, two-lane design is difficult to meet the traffic demand, and the traffic is congested. Even if you get up early, it is often stuck on the road after 5 o'clock.

On July 29, the opening ceremony of the Estrelia-Pantaleón Bridge (Epan Bridge for short) aided by China was held. This 506-meter-long bridge built by China Road and Bridge Company can meet the daily traffic requirement of 50,000 vehicles. It is understood that the travel time between the two places will be reduced to less than 10 minutes.

Not far from the Epan Bridge, the Binudo-Intramuros Bridge, also built with the aid of the Chinese government, will also be completed within this year. It is not only the Filipino people who thank the Chinese bridge builders from the bottom of their hearts. In recent years, Chinese bridges have stepped into the world step by step through various modes such as international bidding, domestic investment and construction, business assistance, and construction assistance.

40 kilometers southwest of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, every progress made in the construction of the Padma Bridge touches people's hearts-this is the dream bridge of the Bangladeshi people. For thousands of years, the Padma River has nurtured Bangladesh. People on both sides of the strait have always relied on shipping for transportation of people and goods, but whenever the rainy season comes, the turbulent river water makes ferrying very dangerous.

Maldives China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge

Since the construction of the main body of the bridge project started in December 2015, residents who traveled by boat on both sides of the strait have seen a new sight. They stare at the bridge and the figure of the builders, looking forward to it, and looking forward to it. According to Shen Tao, executive deputy manager of the Bangladesh Padma Bridge Project Department of China Railway Bridge Bureau, the construction unit, the steel girders of the entire bridge have been penetrated, and the erection of the main bridge and highway deck slabs was completed on August 27, and the bridge deck paving is being stepped up. As well as the installation of the auxiliary structure, it is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Thousands of kilometers away, the people of Croatia are also full of expectations for a bridge built by a Chinese enterprise. On the evening of July 28, local time, as Chinese builders used a bridge deck crane to lift the last 220-ton steel box girder into place and complete the welding, the Pelješac Bridge was successfully closed.

Uncontrollable excitement! Local residents came by boat, singing and laughing all over the bay. This 2,440m long and 22.5m wide highway cable-stayed bridge not only connects the mainland of the country with the Peljesac Peninsula, but also connects China and Croatia.

If the Peljesac Bridge is standing on the calm sea, the Maldives-Malaysia Friendship Bridge constructed by the China Communications Second Navigation Bureau draws a bright neon in the turbulent waves of the deep ocean. August 30, 2021 is the 3rd "birthday" of the China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge. On this day in 2018, the bridge connecting the capital Male, the airport island and the emerging city of Hulhumale was completed and opened to traffic. The beaches, the breakwaters, and the viewing platforms are full of people. I want to see the beauty of the country's first modern bridge. This 2,000-meter-long bridge not only connects the three islands, but also connects the people of the two countries. Nafra, a middle school student in the Maldives, whose heart spanned thousands of kilometers, said: "I hope to go to China from this bridge."

Padma Bridge

In addition, the Mohammed VI Bridge in Morocco and the Second Penang Bridge in Malaysia...the bridges of dreams have been brought into reality with the help of Chinese bridgemen.

Bridge of prosperity and development

If you want to get rich, you need to build a road first; if you want to cross the river, you need to build a bridge first. As a developing country, China is well aware of the great significance of transportation to development. While the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was built in the 1950s, China was doing its best to help other countries build roads and bridges and pave the road for development. From helping Vietnam to repair the Thanh Hoa Bridge to assisting in the construction of Myanmar's Yangon-Dingyin dual-purpose bridge, to the large-scale construction of overseas bridge projects in the new century, Chinese bridge builders have extended their advanced bridge-building technology to all parts of the world to make even better Many countries and regions have benefited.

For residents along the Padma River, this road-rail bridge will not only end the history of cross-strait ferrying, but also connect the capital Dhaka with 21 districts in the south. Plants and gas stations on the north bank of the Padma River, which were once barren, rose from the ground, and have become a hot spot for investment and business. According to statistics, the bridge and railway-highway connecting line project has created more than 50,000 job opportunities for the local area. The Padma Bridge construction team of China Railway Bridge Bureau alone employs more than 4,000 local employees. According to estimates, the completion of the bridge will bring Bangladesh's annual GDP growth of 1.5%, benefiting more than 80 million people.

Over the years, in more than 20 countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Morocco, China Railway Bridge Bureau has undertaken more than 40 bridges that symbolize communication and friendship. Every project construction is accompanied by the export and sharing of Chinese technology, Chinese management, and Chinese opportunities.

Pelješac Bridge, Croatia

Hope is gestating. Moving from "freehand brushwork" to meticulous painting, the Belt and Road Initiative will benefit the people's livelihoods of all countries in a more detailed, deeper and more solid way. Delivering food, repairing cars, protecting bridges... New types of work are in the ascendant, and old industries are rejuvenated. Three years after its completion and opening to traffic, the China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge has pressed the accelerator key for the development of the Maldives.

When I mentioned this bridge, Ibrahim smiled. He works in a fire rescue company, which has a history of more than 20 years. "To provide rescue services, time is very important. Every minute and a second are precious. We must rush to the scene as soon as possible to deal with the accident. The completion of the bridge shortens the time it takes for cross-island rescue forces to reach the accident site by 20 minutes, which makes our rescue efficiency more efficient. Being higher means saving more lives and property." Ibrahim said.

In addition to the prosperity of the industry, more people are growing in all directions. During the construction of the China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge project, employees from Maldives, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and other countries accounted for more than 40%. Chinese masters led foreign apprentices, and Chinese and foreign employees worked together to learn from each other, and the results were remarkable.

Foreign employee Yassin is one of the beneficiaries. Learn circuit board composition, disassemble electrical appliances, draw circuit diagrams, and check the circuit under the scorching sun... The master taught carefully, and Yaxin studied hard. From a hairy guy to a construction team leader, Yassin's professional skills and comprehensive capabilities have been significantly improved. "I hope I can always learn skills with Chinese masters, and I hope my younger brother can also learn Chinese well and work in Chinese engineering projects after graduation," said Yassin. After the bridge was opened to traffic, Yassin continued to move to Bangladesh N8 highway project to participate in the construction of the N8 highway project with CCCC Second Aviation Administration.

Bridge of Wisdom and Struggle

Behind the prosperity and hope is the wisdom and sweat of Chinese bridge builders. The beauty of the Maldives makes tourists intoxicated, but the perspective of the Sino-Malaysian Friendship Bridge project team is completely different: a tourist paradise is a "hell" of engineering.

The seabed is full of coral reefs, making the construction face a severe test from the very beginning. “Building a cross-sea bridge on coral reef geology is a brand new subject. There is no precedent in the world. Teams from many countries shook their heads.” Recalling the situation at the beginning of the construction, the executive vice president of the construction technology group of the China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge Project The engineer Li Ning remembers still fresh, "The coral reef is like a walnut, with a hard shell, and the internal'walnut kernel' is brittle and has many gaps. It is easy to encounter cavities when the pile foundation of the bridge pier is driven down, and it is not easy to stabilize."

Cooperate with a number of scientific research institutes to carry out laboratory experiments, select and deploy elite forces in professional fields such as bridges, oceans, and equipment to monitor the scene day and night, and send additional technicians to watch each drilling rig... The deep combination of scientific research and practice has finally cracked the number of coral reef geology password. The 129 pile foundations were steadily hitting the coral reef, allowing the bridge's roots to penetrate firmly into the deep sea.

Too late to breathe. The wind-free swells from deep in the ocean are rolling in, which brings huge challenges to large-scale hoisting construction. The length between the two waves is more than one hundred meters, and the work boat rises and falls with the waves. "To operate smoothly, it is equivalent to needing a light aircraft carrier-sized crane to be stationed on site. Such a large crane is rare in the world. Even if it comes, it is difficult to perform due to the width of the strait and the height of the aviation." Li Ning recall.

How to do? "It is necessary to find a suitable'window period' for hoisting operations," said Wang Chao, secretary of the Party Branch of the Construction Technology Group of the China-Malaysian Friendship Bridge Project. The Environmental Forecast Center deduced the sea conditions of the past 10 years and finally found a one-year window period.

"The window period is not a whole day suitable for operation, sometimes a few hours, sometimes only a few minutes." Wang Chao said, "In 2016, there were only more than 200 hours suitable for operation during the more than 200 days of offshore lifting operations in 2016. It has greatly reduced the construction period."

How long is the window for which kind of job? The project department has established a refined management system, rationally arranged and combined. Once there is a window period, even if it is only a few minutes, regardless of the scorching sun and rain, everyone will fight for twelve minutes and finally complete the construction of more than 30,000 tons of bridge structures. Hoisting and hitting tasks.

Research and development of 50-meter-long steel box girder top push closure technology, development of quick release device, development of falling beam buffer system... The domestic "super brain" closely cooperated with the project team to break a technical "high wall", and the construction The progress is like a broken bamboo.

"During the 33-month ultra-short construction period, we solved a series of key technical problems, created a precedent for the construction of extra-large bridges in the open ocean and deep sea environment and coral reef geological conditions, and accumulated valuable experience for the construction of similar projects in the world." Li Ning said.

The Padma Bridge also tests the wisdom of the builders. It is no easy task to build a 9.3-kilometer bridge on the Padma River, which is prone to frequent flooding and deep waves. "The riverbed here is composed of silt sand, with a depth of more than 150 meters, and is extremely soft and not easy to be stressed. The harsh geological environment makes the construction of piers in the water extremely difficult, and the bridge is also facing serious settlement, deformation, fracture and even collapse. Question." Shen Tao said.

The world’s deepest bridge steel pipe oblique pile, the first steel pipe pile side pre-compression technology, the first large-scale oblique pile driving operation in the history of the world’s bridge construction, the innovation of the 3200-ton steel beam whole-hole construction process... a number of new technologies and new processes will Difficulties are defeated individually.

Open roads in the mountains and build bridges when encountering water. This scene fully demonstrated the ingenuity, technical confidence, and hard-working will of the overseas builders of Chinese companies. Editor/Tian Zengpeng