Testing A New Bridge 625 Metres / 2051 Feet Above A River

If you are partial to done bridge engineering (or trivia quizzes) - here is an unusual piece of video and some accompanying information;

Testing the new tallest bridge (625 metres / 2,051 feet) above a river in a canyon, with a bridge span of: 1,420 metres / 4,659 feet.

"...the bridge will upon completion set the record for both the world's tallest bridge and largest span bridge built in a mountainous area."

"The load test is the final step before it is considered safe to welcome traffic. A testing team drove 96 trucks onto designated points to test the bridge's structural integrity."

"...five-day testing process ahead of the scheduled opening in late September."

My understanding is; the load test involved 3.360 tons being moved around sensitive points in the design - to simulate extreme conditions and the normal use maximum capacity of the bridge's.specification.

This new motorway bridge will dramatically reduce travel time in the area from a previous 1 hour - down to less than two minutes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c5y3rrvl3r2o

Guizhou is a mountainous province in southwest China whose provincial capital is Guiyang. 

The province is southwest of Beijing, and northwest of both Guilin and Hong Kong.

https://www.bbc.com/newsround/articles/cz0189lnpryo

Parents
  • 14 seconds into the video my Autistic brain is thinking, "That writing on the front of the truck isn't straight!"

    All those trucks make it look like some sort of military parade. I like how they're all lined up and spaced so evenly.

    On the Google maps satellite view, the bridge is not visible (yet), but it does look like it will be connecting nowhere in particular to nowhere in particular. If you build it, they will come, perhaps.

  • In some countries; for nationally important / security sensitive infrastructure digital maps are not always permitted to be rendered in detail / at all.

    Also, the bridge is yet to be open to the public.  You wouldn't want a truck driver's fuel calculation to be 1 hour travel capacity short because they had headed towards a bridge to find it still closed to regular traffic.

Reply
  • In some countries; for nationally important / security sensitive infrastructure digital maps are not always permitted to be rendered in detail / at all.

    Also, the bridge is yet to be open to the public.  You wouldn't want a truck driver's fuel calculation to be 1 hour travel capacity short because they had headed towards a bridge to find it still closed to regular traffic.

Children