On the banks of the Yangtze River, where the spring tide surges, a whistle of starting work cuts through the long sky. On March 31, 2026, with the first pile foundation laid for the Baishazhou Yangtze River Highway and Railway Bridge in Wuhan, the construction of the Wuhan hub through line of the Shanghai Chongqing Chengdu high-speed railway along the Yangtze River officially began. This is not only the groundbreaking of a bridge, but also a key milestone for the Yangtze River Midstream Urban Agglomeration to embrace the era of eight vertical and eight horizontal high-speed railways.

In the grand chess game of the national transportation power strategy, this super project integrating high-speed rail, intercity, and urban expressway is forging a steel backbone for the rise of the central region with the magnificent posture of joint construction of public and railway, and double decker crossing of the river.

As the throat project of the Wuhan hub through line, the design of the Baishazhou Yangtze River Highway and Railway Bridge is highly ingenious and ambitious. It is adjacent to the upstream of the existing Baishazhou Yangtze River Highway Bridge, with a distance of only 75 meters between the two bridges, constructing a three-dimensional transportation corridor on the narrow river surface.

The total length of the bridge is 3812 meters, and the main bridge adopts a 1338 meter double cable surface steel truss combined beam cable-stayed bridge, crossing the river once. The upper level is a two-way six lane urban expressway with a speed of 80 kilometers per hour, which will greatly alleviate the river congestion at the south gate of Wuhan; The lower level is equipped with a four line railway, which not only accommodates the dual line high-speed railway along the river, but also reserves intercity railway channels, achieving the ultimate utilization of land resources.

This steel dragon, with a total length of about 90 kilometers, is not only a connection in physical space, but also an innovation in speed and efficiency. The line starts from Yunmeng East Station and is newly built at Xiaogan South and Hanyang stations. When passing through the main city of Wuhan, the speed is reduced to 250 kilometers per hour to accommodate commuting. After leaving the city, the speed is increased to 350 kilometers per hour to speed through the Yangtze River Delta. This well-balanced design has truly realized Wuhan's vision of high-speed rail entering the city and connecting the hub directly. 

The flying bridge not only connects the fireworks on both sides of Hanyang and Hongshan, but also links the development pulse of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The construction of the Baishazhou Yangtze River Highway and Railway Bridge marks Wuhan's transition from a nine province thoroughfare to a super comprehensive hub.Editor/Cheng Liting