On March 31, 2026, with the completion of the first steel pipe pile installation for the Hanyang side wharf of the Baishazhou Yangtze River Highway Railway Bridge in Wuhan, the control project of this high-speed railway line with a total investment of over 34 billion yuan officially entered the construction phase. As the 14th Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan and the second high-speed railway crossing channel after Tianxingzhou Yangtze River Bridge, the launch of this project marks a crucial step in the construction of the Wuhan hub through line.

Double layered design that balances railway and highway

The Baishazhou Yangtze River Highway and Railway Bridge is located upstream of the existing Baishazhou Highway Bridge, with a center to center distance of only 75 meters between the two bridges. The total length of the joint construction section of the bridge for public and railway is about 3811.6 meters, of which the main bridge is 1338 meters long. The double cable surface steel truss combined beam cable-stayed bridge scheme is adopted, which is a representative project of large-span public and railway joint construction cable-stayed bridges in China.

The bridge adopts a double-layer functional layout. The upper level is a two-way six lane urban expressway with a designed speed of 80 kilometers per hour. After its opening, it will effectively divert the cross river traffic of the existing Baishazhou Bridge and alleviate the traffic pressure in the southwest area of Wuhan. The lower level is a four line railway, including the Wuhan hub direct line double track high-speed railway and reserved intercity railway double track, leaving enough space for future line expansion at once. This design not only meets the current demand for mainline railway transportation, but also lays out in advance for the future development of the city.

The total investment of the Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal Supporting Projects exceeds 34 billion yuan

The Wuhan Hub Direct Line is a key supporting project for the construction of the new Shanghai Chongqing Chengdu high-speed railway along the main line of the national eight vertical and eight horizontal high-speed railway network. The total investment of the project exceeds 34 billion yuan, and the feasibility study was approved by China Railway Group at the end of September 2024, with a planned construction period of 5 years.

The line starts from the existing Yunmeng East Station of the Han Shi High speed Railway in the west, and two new passenger stations, Xiaogan South Station and Hanyang Station, are built along the line. It crosses the Yangtze River via the Baishazhou Yangtze River Railway Bridge and connects to the Wuhan Huangshan Intercity Railway. The total length of the new main line is 79.02 kilometers. The route adopts segmented design speed: the long-distance section outside the city is designed at 350 kilometers per hour to ensure the efficiency of cross provincial high-speed railway traffic; The main urban area of Wuhan is designed at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour, taking into account both intercity commuting and hub connection functions.

Five year construction period helps improve the level of Wuhan hub

As the throat project of the Wuhan hub through line, the commencement of the Baishazhou Yangtze River Highway and Railway Bridge directly determines the construction pace of the entire line. The bridge is constructed and managed by Yangtze River Railway Group Co., Ltd., jointly surveyed and designed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. and China Railway Fourth Engineering Group Co., Ltd., and constructed by China Communications Second Navigation Bureau. After the completion of the bridge, it will further enhance the river crossing capacity and safety resilience of the Wuhan railway hub, and improve the regional comprehensive three-dimensional transportation system. Keywords: Infrastructure Engineering News Network, Cross River Bridge Infrastructure

After the completion of the project, the layout of the Wuhan railway hub will be comprehensively optimized, and the level of Wuhan as an international comprehensive transportation hub will be strengthened, providing solid transportation support for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the rise of the central region in the new era. In five years, this double decker cross river bridge will carry high-speed railways and urban traffic, becoming another major transportation artery spanning the Yangtze River in Wuhan.Editor/Gao Xue