On November 5, with the completion of the final concrete pour, the No. 19 main tower of the Dongjin Yellow River Bridge, designed by China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group (CRSD), was successfully capped, marking the end of construction on both main towers of the bridge.

The Dongjin Yellow River Bridge is located in Dongying City, Shandong Province. Running east-west across the Yellow River, it connects Kenli District and Lijin County. The main bridge is 880 meters long in total and is the first bridge designed and built by CRSD over the Yellow River.

A single span across the river reduces water blockage

The bridge crosses the Ma Wan–Wangzhuang reach of the Yellow River, known as the river's "narrow alley." Although the narrow channel shortens the bridge length, it also makes the current swift and turbulent, affecting flood discharge in the river channel.

The bridge crosses the Xiaolizhuang critical flood-control section of the Yellow River with a 420-meter main span, making it the longest-span steel-concrete composite girder cable-stayed bridge in the Yellow River Delta. Through cantilever assembly construction, the impact on water blockage and ice jamming is minimized to the greatest extent.

Ultra-long foundations provide solid support

The vast and gently beautiful scenery of the Yellow River Delta is captivating, but beneath it lies foundation soil as soft as tofu. To solve the major challenge of soft ground, a "slender, long, and numerous" pile group foundation was adopted. "Slender, long, and numerous" means small diameter, long piles, and a large number of piles. The main tower piles are 2 meters in diameter, with a maximum pile length of 117 meters and 100 piles in total—like one hundred slender chopsticks inserted into tofu.

The longest pile group foundation on the Yellow River provides bearing capacity assurance for a long-span cable-stayed bridge under the alluvial geological conditions of the delta.

A-shaped pylons embody harmony between humanity and nature

Located within the Yellow River Nature Reserve, a good landscape design became an inevitable requirement for the bridge's construction.

Limited by geographical conditions, the ratio of clearance under the bridge to the structural height above the deck is about 1:7, and long-span structures easily create a "short-leg" visual effect, posing a considerable challenge to the landscape design of the main bridge.

To solve this problem, the design team pioneered an A-shaped pylon without a lower crossbeam. With the A-shaped pylon, the lower pylon columns flare outward, weakening the "short-leg" visual effect and greatly enhancing the openness of the lower pylon columns.

In addition, the bridge is located in the land of Qilu and the hometown of Confucius and Mencius. The A-shaped pylon blends seamlessly with the local geographical and historical cultural connotations of "following the laws of nature, harmony between humanity and nature, and returning to simplicity." At the same time, the A-shaped pylon has a simple and clear load path, is tall and majestic, and harmonizes with the surrounding environment. The towering pylons symbolize the vigorous, enterprising spirit of the people on both banks.

The Dongjin Yellow River Bridge project is an important support for the "four horizontal" routes in Dongying City's "one ring, two expressways, four vertical and four horizontal" road network plan. Once completed, the bridge will become a beautiful calling card for the Yellow River Nature Reserve, solve the problem of traffic from Lijin County seat to Dongying Airport having to "go around the city," and become a fast corridor connecting the central urban area of Dongying to the Ji'nan direction via the Dong-Lü Expressway. It is of great significance for building a "grand transportation framework and integrating into the metropolitan economic circle," accelerating the construction of the Yellow River Delta Ecological Economic Zone, and implementing ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.