Wujiang Bridge Lanhai
Wujiang Bridge Lanhai
兰海高速乌江大桥
Wujiangzhen, Guizhou, China
569 feet high / 173 meters high
656 foot span / 200 meter span
2008
One of the highest and largest concrete beam viaducts in the world, the towering Wujiang viaduct opened in 2008 as the biggest bridge on the 220 mile (354 km) G75 Lanhai expressway between Guiyang and Chongqing. Visible from nearly every part of the city, the massive, mile-long viaduct dominates the entire valley, effortlessly leaping over multistory apartment buildings. The thick, monolithic piers support 4 lanes of highway 569 feet (173 meters) above the Wujiang River.
The many unusually long drainage pipes that descend all the way down several of the towering piers were necessary to keep highway rain runoff from falling onto the people and buildings below. There is also a mesh fence along the edges of the highway to keep any loose objects or debris from falling over the side of the bridge.
The Wu river is one of the world’s greatest high bridge waterways with 3 bridges over 500 feet (152 mtrs) in height crossing it in different areas before it finally empties into the Yangtze River at the city of Fuling. The first came in 1995 when the 840 foot (256 mtr) high Jiangjiehe arch bridge opened near Weng’an. In 2001, the Liuguanghe bridge opened across the Wujiang’s upper reaches near Guiyang with a 975 foot (297 mtrs) high deck that is still the world’s highest among beam bridges. The total high bridge count now reaches more than 20. Only the Beipanjiang River has a more spectacular group of high river crossings in China.
The Wujiang Bridge Lanhai has single-cell box spans with a depth of 12 meters over the piers and 3.5 meters at midspan. The tallest pier is 151 meters and supports a deck 24.5 meters wide.
Prior to the Wujiang viaduct’s opening, the highway descended into the valley and crossed the river on a one-of-a-kind suspension / cable stayed bridge hybrid. Opened in 1997, it was the first time in more than 50 years that a major bridge was constructed with cable stays supporting the deck on either side of the tower with a conventional suspended span in the middle. French engineers like Ferdinand Arnodin built many similar hybrid suspension / cable stayed bridges in the late eighteen and early 1900s.
Wujiang Bridge Lanhai Elevation
世界上最高和最大的混凝土梁式结构高架桥之一，高耸在上的乌江高架桥与2008年建成通车，位于220英里（354公里）长的贵阳到重庆的高速公路之上。站在桥上可以俯视乌江市的任何一点，这座巨大的、一英里长的高架桥“控制”了整个峡谷，奋力的耸立在这座城市的多层建筑。粗壮的独柱式桥墩支撑着乌江之上173米处的这座4车道的高速公路桥梁。
大桥上设置了许多的排水管道，沿着高耸的桥墩一直向下延伸，防止高速公路上的雨水洒落到桥下的居民和建筑上。大桥两边缘还设有巨大的护栏，防止松散物体或者碎片从高空落下。
乌江，在重庆涪陵终汇入长江之前，是世界上拥有3座超过152米高度跨越其上的水系之一。第一座跨越乌江的是1995年建成的、贵州省瓮安县的江界河大桥（拱桥），高256米。2001年六广河大桥开通，位于贵阳上有方向的乌江流域，高度297米，至今仍然是世界最高的梁桥。2008年，在贵州的乌江市建成了另一座巨大的混凝土梁桥。如果把位于乌江支流流域的干溪沟大桥和沿溪沟大桥也列于乌江水系的话，那么乌江上的高桥数量就达到了5座。在中国仅仅只有北盘江上拥有者更多的高桥数量。
在乌江大桥通车之前，公路一路向下到达河谷底部，以一座悬索桥/斜拉桥协作体系的混合结构桥梁跨越乌江。1997年通车的这座大桥，是50年来第一座这种结构形式的大桥，主桥两侧建有双塔、斜拉索体系极其支撑的桥面系、跨中部位由一个普通的悬索桥主缆吊起的桥面段。法国工程师们如费迪南德·阿尔诺丁等人曾在19世界后期和20世纪前期见过许多类似的悬索/斜拉桥组合桥梁。
Image by John Morrison.
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
An older mural on the left shows the suspension bridge from 1997 while the sign on the right shows the massive new viaduct. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A mesh fence keeps any loose objects from falling onto the streets and buildings below.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
The two river piers are as tall as a 50-story skyscraper. Plastic pipes carry rain runoff to the bottom. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Wujiang River water levels in 2011. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Wujiang River water levels in 2015. 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
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Xinhuanet.
Completed in 1997, the Wujiang suspension / cable stayed bridge was the first hybrid of both bridge types to be built in more than 50 years. The main span is 945 feet (288 meters). 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
A rare sight indeed - a bridge deck being supported by cable stays and suspenders! Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Sometime after 2009 the Wujiang suspension bridge was closed to trucks whose overloaded cargo has damaged the deck surface. 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
In 2016 the new Yavuz Sultan Selim or 3rd Bosphorus Bridge opened in Turkey with a similar combination of cable stays and suspension cables. 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
Just a few kilometers north of Wujiang is a closed arch that was probably built in 1997 when the suspension bridge was completed. The span was recently declared unsafe due to damage likely caused by overloaded trucks as well as construction flaws. A new viaduct bypasses the arch. A similar situation occurred in nearby Renhuai with the 1995 Yanjihe River arch bridge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Wujiang Bridge Lanhai satellite image.
Wujiang Bridge Lanhai location map.
