Weijiazhou Bridge
Weijiazhou Bridge
魏家洲特大桥
Gaojiayanzhen, Hubei, China
722 feet high / 220 meters high
656 foot span / 200 meter span
2009
The first in an astonishing group of high bridges on the Yichang to Enshi portion of the G50 Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway, the Weijiazhou bridge opened in 2009 as one of China’s highest and most spectacular beam bridges. Located in the mountains east of the city of Yichang, the bridge is near the beginning of a 300 mile (483 km) link of the 1,350 mile (2,175 km) long G50 expressway that now connects Shanghai on the Pacific coast with the cities of Chongqing and Chengdu in the west. The 4-lane engineering marvel is home to Siduhe, one of the 5 highest suspension bridges and Zhijinghe, one of the 5 highest roadway arch bridges in the world. It also has more than half a dozen other bridges that exceed 500 feet (150 meters) in height including Mashuihe and Longtanhe, 2 of the world's highest beam bridge viaducts. This more direct route bypasses one of the toughest and most mountainous stretches of the Yangtze River. What once took more than a day of travel on dangerous mountain roads or a Yangtze River boat can now be safely traversed in 5 hours.
The Weijiazhou bridge is very similar to the Yesanhe bridge located some 60 miles (100 kms) to the west on the same highway. Both are continuous rigid-frame bridges with a main span of 656 feet (200 meters) across a precipitously deep canyon requiring one of the piers be situated on a slope of approximately 60 degrees. For Weijiazhou, the piers extend 354 feet (108 meters) from the top of the foundation to the underside of the box girder. The approach spans are 20 meters. The single cell box beam has a depth of 12.5 meters over the piers and 3.5 meters at center span. The width of each deck is 12.5 meters.
作为沪蓉西高速宜昌至恩施段的一批令人吃惊的大桥之一,魏家州大桥2009年建成通车,称为中国最高和最雄伟的梁桥之一。位于宜昌市附近,这座大桥处在坐落在沪蓉西高速公路,1350英里(2175公里)长的沪蓉高速干线最后300英里(483公里)一段,的起点附近。而沪蓉国道线是将太平洋西岸的上海与内地的重庆和成都等城市联系起来的交通大动脉。经由三峡库区,从东部的宜昌开始直到西部的忠县,这条4车道的工程师们造就的奇迹之路,是两座世界级高桥的“家”—— 桥面行车道在谷底河面之上473米的世界第一高度的四渡河大桥以及行车道高度位于世界第一的拱桥支井河大桥。这条奇迹之路上还有着6座高度超过150米的大桥,其中就有世界最高的梁式结构的高架桥梁——马水河大桥和龙潭河大桥,两座位居世界最高的高架桥之列的大桥。这条更为直接的路线将与原先一条极为艰险、崎岖的长江流域的山区的一条公路线相并行。而原先需要一天的山区危险的车程或者长江上的航行,现在都能在5个小时之内实现。
魏家州大桥和同在一条道路上的、西面大约60英里(100公里)远的野三河大桥很相似。两座桥都是连续刚构桥,主跨均为200米,跨越的都是很深的峡谷,需要其中一个桥墩设置在一个近乎60度倾角的山坡之上。对魏家州大桥而言,最高的桥墩从基础顶面到箱梁底缘高度达108米。
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
The original design had just 2 approach spans of 40 meters but eventually became 4 spans of 20 meters. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Weijiazhou west end tunnel entrance. 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 www.enshi.cn
Weijiazhou Bridge satellite image.
Weijiazhou Bridge location map.