Builders from China Railway No.4 Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (CREC4) completed the rotation for a 21,000-metric-ton concrete beam, about the weight of 13,000 cars, in 90 minutes on September 20 on the 650-kilometer Mianchi-Xichuan Expressway it is building in Nanyang, Henan province.
Pulled by two immense haulers, the T-shaped concrete beam was rotated for 67.5°and after successfully traversing the existing Nanjing-Xi’an Railway and the G312 National Highway, landed at its precise position on the swivel bridge on the interchange traversing the 1,030.2-kilometer Nanjing-Xi’an Railway.
The swivel bridge on the interchange is 140 meters long and 25.7 meters wide, with its tallest pier reaching 23 meters high. The Mianchi-Xichuan Expressway, which starts from Mianchi County in Luoyang City and ends at Xichuan County in Nanyang, is expected to open to traffic in October 2022.
It has been learned that upon completion, the Mianchi-Xichuan Expressway can connect with Lianyungang-Khorgos Expressway, the Luoyang-Luanchuan Expressway and the Zhengzhou Lushi Expressway. The 650-kilometer expressway can help link Henan’s expressways with those in neighboring Hubei province and boost regional traffic.