Bridge with world's tallest rigid-frame pier opens to traffic in SW China

The Jinyanghe Bridge, with the world's tallest pier of a rigid-frame bridge, spanning the Jinyang River, opened to traffic on Thursday (June 30), serving the people of the mountainous Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, the Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of the Power Construction Corporation of China, which is responsible for the construction, consultation and management of the project, told the Global Times.

As a major traffic poverty-alleviation project, the bridge is a key section of the expansion project of the highway linking Jinyang county of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and the Tongyang Bridge over the Jinsha River.

The 757.3-meter bridge is supported with nine piers. The No. 5, 6 and 7 main piers are steel pipe concrete lattice hollow columns that are economical to build and have strong seismic resistance.

The No. 6 pier is 196 meters high, making it the world's tallest pier of a rigid-frame bridge.

Once operational, the bridge will be a major passage connecting the new and old urban Jinyang. It will take just 10 minutes to travel between the two areas benefiting more than 120,000 local residents.