Jinshajiang Bridge of Chengkun Railway, Railway bridge in Panzhihua, China.
The Jinshajiang Bridge of the Chengkun Railway spans the Jinsha River between Sanduizi and Panzhihua stations, on the border of Renhe District and Yanbian County in Panzhihua, Sichuan. Its main span is a 192-metre riveted steel truss, 24 metres high and 10 metres wide, with 32-metre steel plate girder approach spans. The total steel weight is 2,440 tonnes, and the piers rest on slightly weathered granite.
The bridge's lower structure was built from September 1965 to April 1966, and the steel superstructure from June 1967 to October 1969. Because the railway was not yet open, steel members were trucked to the site and assembled by cantilever erection from both banks, meeting at midspan. From 1969 to 1995 it was the uppermost railway bridge across the Yangtze.
Locals call it Sanduizi Bridge after Sanduizi village, which sits beneath the left-bank approach in Yanbian County, though the stele at the bridgehead gives the formal name Jinshajiang Bridge. A walkway on the upstream side, fenced off from the single-track railway, lets pedestrians cross the river on foot. From 1969 until 2013 a military unit was stationed at the bridge.
The bridge is located in a mountainous area and serves regular passenger and freight trains between Chengdu and Kunming. As it is active railway infrastructure, visitors can best view it from nearby vantage points or observation areas rather than attempting direct access.
The bridge carried troops on guard duty from its completion until 7 June 2013. On 11 September 2011, three soldiers of the Panzhihua detachment of the Sichuan Armed Police rushed into the Jinsha to rescue a young Yi woman; Liu Xiandong, 19, and Yang Lei, 18, were swept away and died.
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