Zhaoqing Xijiang Bridge, Transportation bridge in Zhaoqing, China.
The Xijiang Bridge carries National Road 324 and the Guangmao railway across the Xijiang between Chengxi in Duanzhou District and Nan'an in Gaoyao District. The original 1987 structure has a two-lane Class III road deck above a single-track railway; a second two-lane road bridge was added on its east side in 2005. The railway span measures 1,631.49 m, the old road span 1,595.78 m and the new one 1,568.61 m.
Work on the Xijiang Bridge started on 1 October 1978, but shortages of cement and steel under the planned economy and low mechanisation stretched construction to nine years. The road deck opened on 1 April 1987 and the railway deck on 31 July 1987. A second road bridge was added on the east side between 2003 and 2005, and tolls ended on 1 January 2012.
The bridge carries National Road 324 and the Guangmao Railway on two levels, so trains and road traffic cross the Xijiang side by side. Its name comes from the river it spans, and the 1987 Luban Prize for construction is part of how locals know it. The old road deck has two lanes in each direction on a Class III road, the newer deck two lanes on a Class II road.
The bridge experiences heavy traffic during morning and evening rush hours when many commuters cross it. Plan for congestion during these times and use designated pedestrian paths for safer walking.
The bridge's steel truss girders were partly rebuilt from second-hand foreign-aid steel beams, and the balanced-beam, pier bracket and cable-tower methods were used together to erect them. In 2015 a sand-dredging vessel's gantry struck the navigation span, causing damage costing over 40 million yuan; the repaired bridge is now limited to 30 tonnes.
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