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worlds longest-span steel arch

Prelude
The span layout of Chongqing Chaotianmen
Yangtze River Bridge is 190 + 552 + 190 m
to adopt half-through continuous steel truss
arch with tie girders in double-level traffic
arrangement type. The upper deck carries
6 lanes in two ways and a pedestrian lane
on each side, and the lower deck carries dual municipal light rails in the middle and 2
lanes on each side. The span of this Bridge
(552 m) is larger than the recent worldwide
record of 550 m span of the Lupu Bridge [34] completed in Shanghai in 2003, and after
being completed, it will become new record.
This article introduces the design of the main
bridge and the fabrication and installation of
steel components, and deals with also simply
the static and dynamic analyses.
Keywords: continuous truss, half-through
arch bridge, tie, lane, light rail, structural
design, double-level traffic, fabrication,
installation, anti-corrosion coat.
Location of the bridge in Chongqing, across Yangtze River.

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Artists impression of the

Chaotianmen Bridge
in a completed stage.

A town by name Chongqing is situated

in Sichuan Province, China, along
Yangtze River, in a beeline some 1500
km west of Shanghai. According to some
sources, Chongqing is the worlds most
populated and largest town (some 30
mill. inhabitants; some 80000 sq. km).
In Chongqing, there are many great
bridges. The most remarkable of these is
the Chaotianmen Bridge, with the worlds
longest steel arch span of 552 m [1-2].

1. Introduction
of engineering
Chongqing Chaotianmen Yangtze River
Bridge is located at 1,2 km of lower reaches from Chaotianmen (the joint of Yangtze River and Jialing River). It is an important passage connecting west and east
banks of Yangtze River and facilitating the
south bank and the central commercial district in the north of Jianling River in Chongqing City. The total length of the main bridge
and both west and east approaches is 1741
m, among which the 932m main bridge is a
190 + 552 + 190 m half-through continuous
steel truss arch with tie girders. The lengths
of west and east approaches are 314 m and
495 m respectively, both of them being continuous PC box girder bridges (PC = prestressed concrere). Double-level traffic arrangement is adopted with upper deck to be
designed in two-way 6 lanes and both side
pedestrian lanes, with lower deck in middle
two-way municipal light rails and 2 two-way
lanes on each side.

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2. Main technical criteria

Highway grade: 1st-grade municipal main
road with design velocity of 60 km/h.
Lane arrangement on decks: two-way
3 lanes on upper deck with lane width of
3,75 m, and 2 side pedestrian lanes with total widths 2 x 2,5 m; 2 two-way lanes on the
lower with the clear road height 5 m.
Rail traffic standards: two-way light rails
with distance between lines of 4,2 m, design velocity of 80 km/h, allowable max. of
100 km/h, boundary of rail traffic with clear
width 9,2 m, and clear height over rail top
6,5 m.

3. Design loads
3.1 Permanent load
1) For members and joints of main truss,
bridge deck system, plane joining system,
transverse joining system, and portal frames,
etc. all their weights are calculated according
to the practical ones and considered as joint
loads applying to main truss.

2) Pavement of upper deck: 22 kN/m; pavement of lower deck: 12 kN/m; guarding railing of upper deck: 1,35 kN/m; railing of lower deck: 2,7 kN/m; pavement and railing of
pedestrian: 0,6 and 1,0 kN/m respectively,
open bridge of rail communication on lower
deck (including inspection footpass): 8,0 kN/
m, all of the above are the load on a truss,
considered following joint loads applying on
main truss.
3.2 Variable loads
1) traffic load: calculated traffic load according to urban highway grade I and checked
following load of urban-A. Total bridge designed according to 6 lanes, overall loading
should be reduced following corresponding
stipulations of relevant code.
2) rail communication load: executing according to Agreement Letter of relevant
problems about ring line of rail traffic and
Chaotianmen Yangtze River Bridge by the
load standard of General Railway Company
in Chongqing City adopting B-typed metro
trains as those of light rail traffic with 5 trains

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Nighttime images of finished bridge.

in a team with every train length of 19,52 m,

having 4 axes, axis distances 2,3 + 10,3 + 2,3
m and max. axle load Pmax = 140 kN.
3) crowd load: adopting calculated density of 2,5 kN/m2 on whole bridge in general calculation, adopting the density of 4,0
kN/m2 on pedestrian in calculation of local
members.
4) wind load: design wind velocity according to average max. wind velocity of 26,7
m/s, calculating the action of wind load to
structure according to relevant stipulations
in code.
5) thermal action: highest design temperature +45 degree centigrade, lowest 5 C,
system temperature following 20 C, considering temperature difference following
25 C.
6) combination of live loads: without considering the reduction coefficient as combining
the action of highway lane load and light rail
load in most unfavorable combination.
3.3 Ancient action
Seismic action: fundamental intensity of degree VI, defence of this bridge according to

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degree VII.

4. Materials and
fundamental allowable
stresses

etc should all meet the requirements in National Standard Technical Conditions of
High-Strength Large Hexagonal Head Bolts,
Large Hexagonal Nuts, Washers Used for
Steel Structures (GB/T1228-1231).

4.1 Main materials

4.2 Allowable stresses of materials

For the main truss, the kinds of steel

Q420qD, Q370D and Q345qD are adopted;
for deck system, Q345qD is mainly adopted
and Q370qD is partially; for the members
in joining system, Q345qD is mainly used.
The technical conditions of material should
meet the requirements stipulated in National
Standard Structural Steel for Using in Bridges (GB714-2000). For the connecting section steel, Q345qD is all utilized, the technical conditions of quality and external shapes
should meet the stipulations in current relevant national standard.
High-strength bolts: 35VB is used for the
quality of high-strength bolts of grade 10.9S,
M30; 20MnTiB is used for the quality of
high-strength bolts of M24, M22; 45# highquality carbon steel is used for nuts, washers, high-strength bolts, nuts and washers,

The yield strength s of steel is adopted according to National Standard Structural

Steel for Use in Bridges (GB/T714-2000).
The design safety coefficient K = 1,7 and the
allowable stresses []=s/K according to different thickness.

5. General situation
of structural design
5.1 General layout and
main structural characteristics
3-span 190 + 552 + 190 m continuous steel
truss arch bridge with tie girders has whole
length of 934,1 m (including end cross
beams). The full width of main bridge is 36,5
m and that of truss 29,0 m, with truss of variable depth in end span, the middle span is
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29,0 m

36,5 m

552,0 m

Longitudinal profile and plan of the bridge.

11,8 m

36,5 m

Cross-section
of the deck.

29,0 m

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er chord of end span. For upper tie, section

H is adopted and for lower one, section
+ auxiliary cables are adopted, the end
of steel tie is connected with the joint of the
lower chord in arch rib, the lower auxiliary tie
cables are anchored at the end of joint.
The layout of support system in main
bridge: layout of longitudinal support system
is designed to set immovable hinged support
at west middle support (pier No.P.7), on the
other piers there are all set moved hinged
supports. The transverse support system is
arranged to set fixed supports on the other
middle pier (No. P.8) and to set transversely movable supports on end supports, under which at the centers of transverse girder, 2 devices for limiting transversely displacement due to thermal action in main
truss to both side so as to avoid the rail deformation.
The layout of expansion joints in main
bridge: on the west side, at end support
H

steel truss arch with tie girders. The height

from arch top to middle supports is 142 m,
the lower chord is in quadratic parabola with
rise of 128 m and ratio of rise to span is 1/
4,31. The major part of upper chord is also in quadratic parabola and to adopt circular curve with R = 700 m for transition between the upper chords of middle and end
span. The N-type truss is adopted for the
main one with central depth of 14 m, the
depths at middle support and at end support
are 73,13 m (including the depth of stiffening chord being 40,45 m) and 11,83 m respectively. 3 various panel lengths of 12, 14,
16 m are adopted for entire bridge, for end
span arrangement: 8x12m + 14m + 5x16m,
for middle span: 5x16m + 2x14m + 28x12m
+ 2x14m + 5x16m. For the tie girder in middle span, the upper and lower decks with
central distance of 11,83 m are arranged,
the lower tie of middle span is through the
middle chord of stiffening leg and the low-

connecting to the approach there is set an

expansion joint with width in modulus 640
mm, on the east bank, at the connection set
an expansion joint with width in modulus of
940 mm (the selection of expansion joint is
determined following the range of support
displacement under temperature and live
load, not only considered following temperature effect).
5.2 Member section of main truss
The chords of main truss have welded box
section. To adapt the large variety of internal forces in chords, the width and depth
are varied corresponding; there are 2 widths
of 1200 mm, 1600 mm, and the depths are
varied in the field of 1240-1840 mm, the
plate thickness of 24-50 mm. Member is designed according to welding together edgewise (along 4 edges), at spliced place the
depth and width of member are the same,

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Engineering picture of lower deck.

Picture of deck system engineering.

between the members with various width

and various depth, it is designed according
to various width (depth), for a same member, the width and depth are not varied at
same section.
For web members, box, H and -shape
sections are adopted with box section
depths of 1240-1440 m and plate thickness
of 24-50mm, with H-shape section depth
of 700-1100 mm and t = 16-50 mm, member end is designed according to splice along
two edges.
For the upper tie, it is adopted welded Hshape section with depth of 1500 mm, width
of 1200 mm and t=50 mm. For the lower tie,
it is adopted welded H-shape section with
depth of 1700 mm, width of 1600 mm and
t=50 mm.
For the adopted plate member in main
truss, the max. thickness t is 50 mm, the
max. length is 44 m and the max. hoisted
weight for installation is 80 t.

thotropic steel plate of 16 mm thick with

closed U ribs adopted; along the longitudinal of bridge, there are set diaphragms
with spacing not larger than 3 m on lower
deck and at every joint point of main truss.
In the transverse, there are set 2 longitudinal
beams on each side; for the part of light rails
in the middle, there is adopted the system
of stringers and cross beams among which
the cross beams are the same bodies of the
transverse girders in steel deck on both sides,
on this system, 2 light rails with central spacing of 4,2 m are set. Each group of stringers is constituted of 2 which are jointed together into a body through horizontal and
transverse connections; the ends of longitudinal girder are connected with cross ones
through fish pieces and connecting angles.
On the top of light rails there are set wood
sleepers and steel rails with 60 kg/m to be
used for driving as urban light communication rail roads.
For upper deck, there are set the brackets for pedestrian beside the external sides
of main truss joints, on these brackets, shaped orthotropic plates are set as pedestrian deck.

5.6 Horizontal longitudinal joining

Engineering picture of upper deck.

5.3 Joints of main truss

Except that middle support joint (E15) is to
construct into integral joint, the other joints
arc to construct into spliced ones. The max.
thickness of gusset is 800 mm (joint E15),
the max. dimensions are 5570 x 7620 mm
(joint E18).

The horizontal longitudinal joining of lower deck is set crosswise with welded I-shape
members adopted, and also the transverse
girder as bracings. For the horizontal longitudinal joining, in the upper and lower chords,
diamond-type trusses are adopted, for this
joining in the stiffening chords, K-type trusses are set. Because there are included angles between adjacent panels, the gussets of
horizontal joining must adopt to transit with
bending. For upper chords A9-A11, horizontal joining is taken as temporary one during
construction and will be removed after the
main truss is closed.
5.7 Transverse joining and portal frames
For the arch ribs of main truss, in every 2 panels a trussed transverse joining is set, located
at the centroid of -typed upper and lower horizontal longitudinal joining in arch rib;
for every panel in the segments of stiffening
leg, there is set a truss-type transverse joining. At middle support, there is set truss-type
portal frame, at end support A1-E1 and at

End transverse girder of lower deck.

5.4 Arrangement of lift points

For each truss, there are all set 4 lift points
at end and middle supports, these points are
set under gusset on both sides of support.
The max. lift reaction of middle support is
130000 kN.
5.5 Deck system
For upper deck system, it is adopted the orthotropic steel plate of 16 mm thick with
closed U-type ribs. Along the longitudinal
direction of bridge, there are set diaphragms
with spacing not larger than 3 m on upper
deck, in the transverse, there are arranged 6
longitudinal beams and at the joint of main
truss there is set a transverse girder. On both
side lanes in lower deck, there is set the or-

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Constructing the
bridge by help of
hoisting towers.

E18-E19, panel-type portal frames are set, at

E19-E20 truss-type portal frame is set.
5.8 Setting pre-camber of structure
The pre-camber of main truss is set in reverse
according to the deflection due to dead load
+1/2 (statical life load) and appropriately revised. Following calculated results, the precamber in end span is unnecessary to set, in
middle span, the pre-camber is set according
to the following method: for the joints M16M19 (E19) to rise the tops of transverse girders in upper and lower decks; for joints M20M36, C20-36 to adjust the centerlines of
steel member, to rise the tops of transverse
girders and shorten the hangers.
5.9 Connections with high-strength bolts
For main truss, high-strength bolts M30 are
adopted, the effective design prestressing
force of bolt hole 33 is 360 kN; for deck
system, joining system, high-strength bolts
M24, M22, the effective prestressing forces
of bolt holes 26, 24 are 240 kN, 200 kN
respectively. The friction coefficient of fric-

tion surface is adopted following f=0,45. For

the friction surface of connection of highstrength bolts, it is required that f is not less
than 0,55 as ex-factory and not less than
0,45 before installation of members.
5.10 Anti-corrosion of steel girders
The antirust coating of steel structure is referred to adopting the kinds of paint, layers
of painting and thickness of dry film in Chinese Technical Standard Protection Coating
for Steel Railway Bridges (TB/T1527-2004)
and adjusted appropriately. For saving space,
the details are neglected in this article.

6. Installation of steel truss

The end span should be installed by cantilever method, on trestles and temporary piers.

First, two panels of steel truss are installed on

the trestles by means of tower crane beside
end pier; next, the erecting gantry is assembled on the upper chord of steel truss; then
using this gantry installs the steel trusses in
sequence with assistance of temporary piers
from end pier to middle one, by cantilever
method. While installing steel truss, some
balanced weight should be used on the end
span to make sure that the stability coefficient is larger than 1,3.
The steel truss of middle span will be installed by full cantilever method symmetrically with the assistance of sling pylon, and
closed at the middle. The steel truss is installed firstly, and then the arch rib truss and
hangers will be installed step by step until
the middle of span is closed. The sling pylon is 100 m high and has two levels of cable; the anchor points of former cable are
at 144 m and 216 m from the middle pier,
back cable anchored at 166 m and 178 m,
the spacing between anchor points on the
pylon is 2 m. While installing middle span,
weight should be forced on the 48 m region
of end span to make the safe coefficient
against overturn larger than 1,3. The lower
chord of arch rib truss should be closed prior
to the upper one.
After arch truss closed, the temporary tie
should be installed and stressed, and then
the sling cables and sling pylon should be removed; erecting gantry goes backward, the
deck crane walks on the upper deck to install
ties and upper crossbeams in sequence until
middle span is closed. The upper tie should
be closed prior to the lower one; the provisional ties should be removed after a while.
Then the deck crane goes backward from
middle span to install crossbeams, plane
bracings, and longitudinal girders of lower deck, and install upper and lower steel
bridge deck. To eliminate the effect of integral-action of orthotropic steel plate and
main truss, some temporary connection be-

Hoisting a member
onto a small vehicle for
transporting beam.
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65

tween steel plate and crossbeam should be

made; the permanent connection should not
be done until all members are installed completely. The assistant cables are installed and
stressed after all bridge members completed. After the bridge finished, auxiliary facilities and pavement completed, the forces in
hangers and assistant cables will be adjusted
to meet design requirements.

7. Static and dynamic analyses

From the calculation results, it can be seen

that: (1) in the double-level ties, the force in
lower one plays dominating role, the force in
upper tie is only 1/3 of the total; (2) the ratio 1/1700 of structure deflection to its span
under static and life loads is far less than the
stipulated value 1/750 in the Code. Therefore it can be concluded that the steel truss
arch bridge generally has larger vertical
structural stiffness, which is not major factor
to control the design of structure.

all of which are adopted in space beam elements, the stiffness and mass of the upper and slower decks are equivalently distributed to longitudinal and cross girders,
the boundary conditions are set according
to the support system after bridge completion, the structural space The result of structural static stability analysis indicates that the
safe coefficient of static stability in the phase
of bridge completion is 6,8 and meets the requirements of related stipulation in Code.

7.1 Structural plane analysis

7.2 Static stability analysis of structure

7.3 Analysis of structural

dynamic characteristics

The calculation model is only made for main

truss according to plane bar-system and taking account of the stiffness of members. The
main calculation results are given in details
in Tab.1.

The stability calculation of this bridge structure is conducted by space FEM adopting
current space analysis program. The calculation model is simulated according to the
space arrangement of structural members,

For the analysis of structural dynamic characteristics, the same model used in static stability analysis is adopted. The main analysis
results are given in Tab.2.

Tab.1: Plane static calculation results of structure

Tab.2: Results of dynamic characteristics

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Epilogue
The structural design of Chaotianmen Yangtze River Bridge and substructure engineering have been finished. Now the manufacture of steel girders is being conducted in
factory. In June 2006, the installation of
steel girders has been started, the construction of full bridge is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2008. After completion,
this bridge will become the longest-span
arch bridge in the world, and it shows fully that the level of arch bridge construction
in China occupies temporarily the worldwide
leading position. The steel truss arch bridges
have been adopted in this country more and
more, the authors wish to provide valuable
experience for the design and construction
of bridges with the same type.
The contractor of the bridge is China Harbour Engineering Company and the consultant is Dorman Long Co. The cost is 3 milliard
CNY (360 million USD).

Authors:
DUAN Xuewei,
Juhani VIROLA,
DING Dajun
Illustration:
DING Dajun

Finnish summary:
Chongqingin kaupungissa Kiinassa, linnuntiet n. 1500 km lnteen
Shanghaista, on rakenteilla Yangtse-joen ylitse Chaotianmen Bridge
-niminen suursilta. Valmistuessaan v. 2008 se on maailman pitkjnteisin
(552 m) terskaarisilta [1-2]. Aiempi enntys (550 m) on Shanghaissa
sijaitsevalla Lupu-sillalla vuodelta 2003 [3-4]. Oheisesta jnnevlitaulukosta
huomataan, ett maailman kymmenest pitkjnteisimmst terskaarisillasta eniten eli nelj sijaitsee Kiinassa ja nist kolme Chongqingissa.
Chongqing on todellinen suurten siltojen kaupunki ja siell on mys monia
muita maailman suurimpiin kuuluvia siltoja. Kiina on tll haavaa maailman
suurten siltojen ykksmaa [5]. Teknillisen korkeakoulun (TKK) sivuilla [6]
on seitsemn taulukkoa maailman erityyppisist pitkjnteisist silloista,
joista oheisena terskaarisiltojen taulukko. TKK:n seitsemst taulukosta
viidess Kiinalla on enemmn siltoja kuin milln muulla maalla ja neljss
taulukossa maailmaenntyssilta on kiinalainen.

THE LEADING 10 LONG-SPAN STEEL ARCH BRIDGES WORLDWIDE [6]

No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Bridge
Chaotianmen
Lupu
New River Gorge
Bayonne
Sydney Harbour
Chenab
Wushan
Caiyuanba
Fremont
Numata River Gorge

Span
552 m
550 m
518 m
504 m
503 m
461 m
460 m
420 m
383 m
380 m

Location
Chongqing, China
Shanghai, China
Fayetteville, WV, USA
New York, NY, USA
Sydney, Australia
Katra, India
Chongqing, China
Chongqing, China
Portland, OR, USA
Hiroshima, Japan

Year
2008
2003
1977
1931
1931
2008
2005
2005
1973
2007

References:
[1] DUAN Xuewei, XU Wei, ZHAO Xingya & DING Dajun: Construction starts on world-beating arch bridge. Bridge Design & Engineering 2006:4, p. 10.
[2] Information and illustration of the Chaotianmen Bridge kindly given by Prof. DING Dajun, of the Nanjing Institute of Technology (NIT).
[3] Juhani VIROLA: The Lupu Bridge worlds longest steel arch span. Rakennusinsinri ja -arkkitehti RIA 2003:1, p. 64-65.
[4] LIN Yuanpei, ZHANG Zenhang, MA Biao & ZHOU Liang: Lupu Arch Bridge, Shanghai. Structural Engineering International SEI 2004:1, p. 24-26.
[5] Juhani VIROLA: Chinese great bridges in pictures (in Finnish). Maansiirto 2006:2, p. 40-45.
[6] Long-span bridge tables of the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK): www.tkk.fi/Units/Bridge/longspan.html
[7] Juhani VIROLA: The worlds greatest steel arch bridges. International Civil Engineering, Vol.2, No.5, 1971/72, p. 209-224.
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