The world's first cable-stayed high-speed railway bridge with an arch-shaped pylon, located in Changde, Hunan Province. The bridge, which features a "portal" shaped arch tower, was designed to blend harmoniously with the urban environment while providing a vital connection in the national high-speed railway network. The bridge spans the Shimen-Changsha Railway at a skew angle of 18° and was constructed with a steel-concrete composite girder, innovative construction techniques, and sustainable materials.
A competent and confident use of a cable-stayed bridge for high-speed railways, with a distinctive arch-shaped pylon. The project team designed a novel steel-concrete composite girder and a unique construction method that minimised construction risks and shortened the construction period by 15 months.
The project pioneered an arch tower axis optimisation method based on nodal zero bending moments, reducing bending moments by 12% and improving the rationality and economy of the design. This approach has since been applied to other high-speed railway bridge projects.