Puli Bridge

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Puli Bridge
普立特大桥
Pulixiang, Yunnan, China
1,306 feet high / 398 meters high
2,060 foot span / 628 meter span
2015

PuliComputerView.jpg


Puli Bridge will become the highest suspension bridge in Yunnan Province when it opens in 2015. The main span of 628 meters will be unique among China's highest suspension bridges in that it will have a thin, box deck girder instead of the usual truss. The Longjiang Bridge - also under construction in Yunnan Province - will also utilize an aerodynamic box deck girder. The entire deck will require 52 segments of 12 meters in length. The bridge crosses Puli creek just 200 meters before it empties into the spectacular Gexianghe River gorge.

The first pilot line for the main cable was shot across the canyon tethered to the back end of a rocket in early 2013. This is only the 3rd time this has ever been done after the Siduhe and Lishuihe Bridges.

The span is part of the new G56 expressway that will connect the city of Xuanwei, Yunnan with Liupanshui, Guizhou as well as the G76 expressway in Bijie, Guizhou. This entire Yunnan/Guizhou border region is becoming a new hot spot of high Chinese bridges. In addition to Puli they include the Beipanjiang Railway, Beipanjiang 2013, Beipanjiang 2016, Dimuhe, Zongqihe and Yuzuo Bridges.

Just How High Is Puli Bridge?

The inaccessible terrain on the east and west slopes along Puli Creek made it difficult for the bridge engineers to create an exact topographic model of the bottom of the Puli Creek canyon. Estimates show the water surface to be at 1,430 meters or approximately 398 meters below the known center road deck level of 1,828 meters. With the Gexiang River at around 1,230 meters elevation, the Puli Bridge deck height would seem to be around 400 meters. I will update the actual height of Puli Bridge when I measure it with my laser rangefinder.


PuliElevationFinal.jpg

Puli Bridge Elevation


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


PuliBridgeDrawing.jpg

Another early computer rendering of the Puli Bridge.


PuliBridgeConstRoads.jpg

In 2011 a series of construction roads were created to access the foundation of one of the bridge towers. Construction of the bridge began in 2012.


PuliBridgeGroup.jpg

A group of Yunnan engineers visit the east slope of the bridge site in 2011.


PuliModel.jpg

A group of Chinese engineers discuss the bridge design. The simplified terrain below the model does not show the full height of the V-shaped valley.


PuliModelView.jpg


PuliSatellite.jpg

Puli Bridge satellite image. Note how the bridge crosses the Puli River just before it empties into the Gexiang River that flows off to the right. The Puli River descends as much as 200 meters during this last stretch before it joins the Gexiang River.