A 640-ton steel piece was fixed over the Jinsha River Bridge sling on the Lijiang-Shangri-La railway under construction on June 15, kicking off the steel-girder making.

Featuring a 24.4m length and a 12m height, the first girder piece was hoisted by a cable crane independently made by China Railway 5th Bureau Group. The crane can hoist a maximum of 800 tons.

“The elevation difference between the cable-tower top and the girder-assembly site reaches 330 meters, making it a most challenging project in the world,” said Xie Shoujie, deputy general manager of the fifth railway group. 

The whole girder consists of 71 sections, involving 21 side spans and 50 middle spans. Incepted in October 2015, construction of the bridge was at times hindered by persisting rainfalls and narrow working sites.

With a main span of 660 meters and a maximum fall of 250 meters, the Jinsha River Bridge has a total length of 882.5 meters. Fames scenic areas of the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Haba Snow Mountain and the Jade-Dragon Snow Mountain, stand near the bridge. 

Located in northwest Yunnan province, the 139km Lijiang-Shangri-La railway is part of the Yunnan-Tibet Railway. 

Source: Yunnan Net; trans-editing by Wang Shixue