Chinese engineers build a massive high-speed railway bridge by swinging two 7,000-tonne sections into place - while another high-speed railway bridge underneath remain open
- The two huge bridge girders in east China measured 419 feet long each
- They rotated 19.5 degrees counter-clockwise simultaneously to connect
- The impressive engineer feat was completed in just 73 minutes at night
- China has the world's longest high-speed rail network and it's still expanding
Chinese workers are constructing a huge high-speed railway bridge over another high-speed railway bridge which remain open.
To complete the challenging engineering feat, workers built two bridge sections at an angle and then swinging them into position.
The two girders, each weighing 7,000 tonnes and measuring 128 metres (419 feet) long, rotated 19.5 degrees counter-clockwise simultaneously before connecting.
Before: A high-speed train whizzes on Ningqi Railway before the two bridge sections connect
After: The massive girders are linked above the Ningqi Railway after being swinging into place
The enormous overpass on Lianyungang-Zhengjiang railway line was successfully joined last week.
The impressive engineer feat was completed in 73 minutes last Thursday night, according to People's Daily Online.
Yang Shibin, a supervisor of the construction project, explained the difficulties of the project to the newspaper.
Mr Yang said the bridge was situated 'very close' to the elevated Ningqi Railway, and more than 60 trains whiz on it every day.
The bridge is also less than half a metre away from high-voltage power lines.
Moreover, the two sections form a slope on the bridge with an elevation of three metres (9.8 feet), which made the rotating project unprecedented in China.
To ensure the success of the project, bridge builders worked with professors from multiple universities to calculate the most ideal rotating speed and angle.
China has the world's longest high-speed rail network, expected to reach 18,641 miles in 2020.
The bridge is a part of the Lianyungang-Zhengjiang railway line which links the Lianyungang city in Jiangsu province with the Zhenjiang city in Zhejiang province.
The railway line in east China is 305.2 kilometres (190 miles) long and is expected to complete next September.
It will support high-speed trains with an average operating speed of 250 kilometres per hour (155 miles per hour).
China has the world's longest high-speed rail network with more than 20,000 kilometres (12,427 miles) of track.
The country expects the network to grow to 30,000 kilometres (18,641 miles) by 2020, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Beijing has also been planning to build the world's longest undersea railway tunnel to link the mainland and Taiwan. It was reported in August that scientists were close to confirming the tunnel's design.
Most watched News videos
- Moment plane's landing gear sparks with flames and detaches itself
- Mother of British teen in gang rape case says she is 'suffering'
- Hezbollah leader says retaliation should not target American civilians
- Man in Gateshead chews parking ticket before hurling it at warden
- Buddhist monk distracted by cat during five-hour prayers
- Britain's worst serial rapist prowls streets for victims on CCTV
- Thousands take part in funeral procession for General Soleimani
- Piers Morgan rants about vegans and bees on Good Morning Britain
- Ricky Gervais makes controversial joke about Jeffrey Epstein
- Soleimani's replacement vows revenge for US killing
- Traffic police signal in sync with Pump It Up playing on the radio
- Massive crowds gather as the body of Soleimani arrives for funeral
