The Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission has officially approved the franchise plan for the Anqing Haikou Yangtze River Bridge project, marking a crucial progress in this major transportation infrastructure project. The total investment estimate for this project is 10.956 billion yuan, and it is planned to start construction by the end of 2025 with a construction period of 4.5 years. After completion, it will effectively connect Anqing City and Chizhou City in Anhui Province, becoming an important comprehensive transportation hub for both public and rail transportation in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

The project is located in the Yangtze River waters between Daguan District of Anqing City and Dongzhi County of Chizhou City, Anhui Province, and adopts a double decker cable-stayed bridge design scheme for both public and railway use. The upper level is a two-way six lane expressway with a designed speed of 100 kilometers per hour; A two track railway channel is reserved in the middle of the lower layer, and a two-way four lane first-class highway is set on both sides, with a design speed of 80km/h. This design concept of "three-dimensional layering and functional integration" will greatly improve the utilization efficiency of the river crossing channel.

The project mainly consists of three parts:

1. Expressway section: The starting point is located in Haikou Town, Daguan District, Anqing City, connecting the proposed G4231 Nanjing to Jiujiang Expressway, and the endpoint is Shengli Town, Dongzhi County, Chizhou City, connecting with the existing S27 Anqing to Dongzhi Expressway, with a total length of about 13.1 kilometers;

2. First-class highway: the starting point is located at the intersection of Haikou Town and National Highway G347 in Anqing City, and the end point is connected to the G206 reconstruction project on the west side of Louge Village, Shengli Town, the county in the east, with a total length of about 9.4 kilometers;

3. The public railway joint construction section: about 4.7 kilometers long, it is the core project of the entire bridge.

In terms of investment and financing models, the project operates through franchising. The project capital accounts for 20% of the total investment (approximately 2.191 billion yuan), of which the local government contributes 35% of the capital and the social capital party bears 65%. The remaining 80% of the construction funds (approximately 8.765 billion yuan) will be resolved through market-oriented financing by the project company. This model not only ensures the government's leadership over major infrastructure, but also fully leverages the role of market mechanisms.

After the completion of the project, it will significantly improve the transportation conditions on both sides of the Anhui River. At present, the travel time between the main urban area of Anqing and Dongzhi County is about 1.5 hours, and after the bridge is opened, it will be shortened to less than 30 minutes. At the same time, the railway channels reserved by the project provide space for the future development of the regional railway network, which can be connected to trunk railways such as the Beijing Hong Kong high-speed railway and the Nanjing Anqing intercity railway in the long run.

The relevant person in charge of the Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission stated that the Anqing Haikou Yangtze River Bridge is an important project to implement the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and is of great significance for improving the comprehensive transportation network in East China and promoting the coordinated development of the Anhui River urban belt. The project is planned to start construction before the end of 2025 and is expected to be completed and open to traffic by mid-2030. During the construction process, strict implementation of ecological environment protection requirements will be carried out, intelligent construction technology will be adopted, and quality engineering will be created.

Next, relevant departments in Anhui Province will accelerate the bidding process for project investors, guide local governments to improve various approval procedures, and ensure that projects start construction on schedule. The completion of this bridge will further optimize the transportation layout in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and provide strong support for regional economic and social development. (This article is from the official website www.seetao.com of Jian Dao. Reproduction without permission is prohibited, otherwise it will be prosecuted. Please indicate Jian Dao website+original link when reprinting.) Jian Dao website infrastructure engineering column editor/Yang Beihua