On March 21, 2026, a large cable crane lifted the first section of a 135 ton arch rib smoothly over the deep cut canyon of Hongshui River at the border of Guizhou and Guangxi, crossing the canyon and accurately landing on the arch seat on the Guizhou side. The Hongshui River Railway Bridge, with a total length of 1022 meters and a main span of 570 meters, has officially begun the construction of the upper structure of the main bridge. As a controlling project of the Guizhou section of the Huangbai Railway, this world's largest railway dedicated through type reinforced concrete arch bridge is moving from foundation construction to the stage of climbing high technology.

The world's first railway arch bridge

The Hongshui River Railway Bridge has a total length of about 1022 meters and a main span of 570 meters. After completion, it will become the world's largest railway dedicated through type reinforced concrete arch bridge. The arch rib head section lifted this time is 25.8 meters long, 3.8 meters wide, and 11.3 meters high, with a single weight of approximately 135 tons. This massive component requires precise positioning in high-altitude deep valleys, which places extremely high demands on construction technology. Due to the location of the bridge site in a canyon with steep terrain, construction needs to cross the Hongshui River. The builders face multiple challenges such as difficulties in material transportation, high risks in high-altitude operations, high environmental requirements, and large segment weights.

Digital twin precise lifting

The construction of the arch ribs of the Hongshui River Railway Bridge adopts a large cable crane system for hoisting. This system is like setting up an aerial corridor between canyons, using anchors on both sides to fix it, and relying on multiple main cables to achieve land lifting, air transportation, and precise docking. To overcome the lifting difficulties, the construction team utilized digital twin technology and integrated BIM models to map real-time on-site monitoring data, achieving visual control of the entire lifting process. They successfully completed the first segment of millimeter level high-precision lifting, laying a solid foundation for subsequent construction. Keywords: Infrastructure Engineering News Network, Railway Infrastructure

Speed up of the Western Land Sea New Corridor

The Huangbai Railway starts from Huangtong Station in Puding County, Guizhou Province, and ends at Baise Station in Guangxi Province. It connects to the Shanghai Kunming Railway to the north and the Nankun Railway to the south. It is an important part of the western land sea new corridor. The total length of the main line is about 315 kilometers, with a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour. The Guizhou section of the main line is about 173 kilometers long, with a bridge tunnel ratio of 81.6%. As of now, 15 out of the 33 newly built tunnels on the Guangxi section of the Huangbai Railway have been completed, and the overall progress of the bridge project has reached 89.6%. The railway is planned to be completed and opened to traffic in 2028, and will become another convenient railway corridor from Guizhou to the Beibu Gulf region.Editor/Gao Xue