Yachi Railway Bridge
Yachi Railway Bridge
鸭池河特大桥
Daguanzhen, Guizhou, China
(919) feet high / (280) meters high
1,430 foot span / 436 meter span
2015
The Yachi Railway Bridge is not only impressive for its height of nearly 300 meters but for having an epic main arch span of 436 meters. Among railway-only steel arch bridges, only the Nujiang and the Xijiang have longer main spans. Designed for high speed trains on the line from Guiyang to Chengdu, the twin track structure is composed of a steel box beam for the lower half of the arch and a trussed arch for the upper section. The approach spans on either side of the main arch are also unique being composed of a cantilevered T-beam of 2x61.75 meters.
Spanning a deep reservoir from a downstream dam, the Yachi Railway Bridge is approximately 230 meters above the surface of the lake. The Wu River has a greater number of high bridges across its waters then another river on earth with almost two dozen crossings exceeding 100 meters in height. Approximately 45 kilometers upstream of the Yachi Railway Bridge is the Najiehe Railway Bridge which is the highest railway span in China at 310 meters.
The Beipanjiang River is a barrier that seems to require engineers to create world record bridge spans. This tradition began in 2001 when the first record breaking high railway arch crossing took place near Fa’er Bouyei with a rail to river drop of 275 meters. Things have changed a lot in China between 2001 and 2015 and most of the newer railway lines are being designed and built for high speed trains reaching speeds of 250 kilometers an hour.
Yachi Railway Bridge satellite image.
Yachi Railway Bridge location map.
