Guizhou bridge wins highest intl bridge construction award

Huayudong Bridge in Guiyang is Guizhou's fourth project to win the Gustav Lindenthal Medal. [Photo/ddcpc website]

The Huayudong Bridge Removal and Reconstruction project in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, won the Gustav Lindenthal Medal – the world's most prestigious bridge construction award – on April 4. It is Guizhou's fourth project to win the award.

The Huayudong Bridge is located above Hongfeng Lake, and is 270 meters long. As Guizhou's first bridge to be shaped like a "hand basket", the bridge makes use of 11 national patented technologies and one provincial construction method and has pioneered a new reconstruction method.

Due to its strong load capacity, the construction team managed to use the bridge's main arch ring as a support frame to dismantle the old bridge step by step.

As the bridge stretches across Hongfeng Lake, a national 5A-level scenic spot and water source protection zone, the construction team designed a special sewage collection system to collect, settle and separate oil before discharging sewage.

The Huayudong Bridge will make travel more convenient, improve the scenery at Hongfeng Lake, and serve as a model for reconstructing old bridges in areas under environmental protection.

The Gustav Lindenthal Medal will be given at the International Bridge Conference in July. The annual conference has been held for 38 years by the non-profit Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, which is an educational organization of professional engineers dedicated to advancing the engineering profession.