Caojiaquan Yellow River Railway Bridge, Railway bridge in Huaiyin District, China
Caojiaquan Yellow River Railway Bridge carries the Beijing–Shanghai Railway over the Yellow River on the Yan–Dang line of the former Jin–Pu Railway. It is 5,698.3 metres long with 163 spans: a 530.65-metre steel truss main bridge of five spans and 158 prestressed concrete approach spans totalling 5,167.65 metres.
The bridge opened in 1976 to handle increasing rail traffic between the regions. It became an important addition to the railway network in northern China.
The bridge is guarded around the clock by soldiers of the Jinan detachment of the Shandong Armed Police, a visible sign of the line's strategic weight. Its name comes from Caojiaquan village on the Huaiyin bank, beside the Caojiaquan flood-control section. The bridge let direct freight trains on the Jinpu line bypass Jinan station, and for a time it ran alongside the old Luokou bridge.
The bridge is an active railway crossing guarded around the clock by soldiers of the Jinan detachment of the Shandong Armed Police, so access to the deck is not open to visitors. Views of the 5,698.3 m structure and its five steel truss spans are from the banks near Caojiaquan village in Huaiyin District; the river here is about 480 m wide.
Four curved rail expansion joints, researched and built by the bridge bureau, sit on the deck between the up and down lines to absorb steel-girder movement and keep the rails at the correct gauge. The bridge also carries a navigation clearance of 8 metres beneath it.
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