[Good News] The Pingtang Bridge has been awarded the “Gustav Lindenthal” International Bridge Award. The bridge has been awarded the “Gustav Lindenthal” International Bridge Award.

Release time:

2021-06-19 15:59

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On June 17, the 2021 Bridge Development Forum of the World Transport Engineering Technology Forum (WTC) was held in Xi'an. The keynote guests attending the forum include Wang Mengyong, Member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Chairman of the China Highway Society; Zhang Xigang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice Chairman of the China Highway Society, and Chairman of the Bridge and Structural Engineering Branch; and Chen Airong, Professor at Tongji University and Vice Chairman of the Bridge and Structural Engineering Branch.

To encourage the bridge industry to create more high-quality projects, this forum has specially included a ceremony to present awards for the International Bridge Conference (IBC) winning projects (2020-2021). After remarks by Academician Zhang Xigang and Thomas Liqi, Co-Chair of the IBC Selection Committee (in an English video), Committee Member Wang Mengyong and Academician Zhang Xigang presented commemorative medals and certificates to representatives of the award-winning projects, including the Pingtang Bridge, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Yangtze River Highway Bridge, followed by a group photo.

Zhang Xigang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice Chairman of the China Highway Society, and Chairman of the Bridge and Structural Engineering Branch, delivered a speech.

Speech by Thomas Liqi, Co-Chair of the International Bridge Conference (IBC) Selection Committee (English video)

The Pingtang Bridge, designed by our company, has been awarded the 2021 International Bridge Conference (IBC) “Gustav” Award. • Lindsey Award, Chief Engineer Yang Jian of the company took the stage to receive the award.

Zhang Xigang (first from the left), an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Wang Mengyong (first from the right), a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, at the Pingtang Bridge.

Presenting the “Gustav Lindenthal” Award—our company’s chief engineer, Yang Jian (fourth from the left), takes the stage to receive the award.

The International Bridge Conference (IBC) is a highly prestigious international academic conference on bridges, organized by the Western Pennsylvania Engineers’ Society in the United States. It enjoys broad influence within the global bridge community. Established in 1988, the IBC Bridge Awards are presented annually and are widely regarded as the “Nobel Prize of the bridge world.” Since their inception, numerous world-class, iconic bridges—including the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in the U.S., the Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong, the Tianxingzhou Bridge in Wuhan, the Sutong Yangtze River Highway Bridge, the Xihoumen Bridge, the Rio-Antirrio Bridge in Greece, and the Millau Viaduct in France—have all received IBC Bridge Awards. The “Gustav Lindenthal” Award is an outstanding achievement award established by the IBC to recognize exemplary bridges. According to the judging panel, the Pingtang Bridge has achieved remarkable accomplishments in such aspects as bridge functionality, technical sophistication, material innovation, aesthetic design, harmony with the surrounding environment, and public engagement. The Pingtang Bridge has been awarded the “Gustav Lindenthal” Prize, marking our company’s bridge design capabilities as being among the world’s leading.

At this forum, Yang Jian, the company’s chief engineer, also delivered a special report titled “Key Technologies in the Construction of the Pingtang Bridge.” The report primarily covered topics such as the construction challenges faced by the Pingtang Bridge and their corresponding solutions, key design considerations for the three-tower steel-concrete composite cable-stayed bridge, the full-segment longitudinal shifting and rotational launching technique, and his experiences submitting the project for awards at the International Bridge Conference (IBC).

Yang Jian, Chief Engineer of the Company—Special Report on “Key Technologies for the Construction of the Pingtang Bridge”

Real view of Pingtang Bridge

Introduction to the Pingtang Bridge: The Pingtang Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 2 × 550 meters, featuring three towers and a double-cable-plane steel-concrete composite girder. The central tower stands at 332 meters high, making it the world’s tallest concrete bridge tower. Construction of the project commenced on April 29, 2016, and the bridge was completed and opened to traffic on December 31, 2019. During the design phase, in response to the structural requirements of the towers, elements such as the unique costumes and dances of the local ethnic minorities were incorporated into the tower’s architectural design. Ultimately, the “skirt-like” tower shape was selected, seamlessly integrating with the main girders and cables to create a highly dynamic overall bridge structure. During construction, new types of construction equipment were developed, and the innovative technique of longitudinally shifting and rotating entire segments of steel girders for suspended assembly was pioneered worldwide. Additionally, the accompanying “Sky Bridge” sightseeing service area has created hundreds of jobs, providing high-quality travel services to passing travelers while also boosting the economic development of the local ethnic minority regions. The Pingtang Bridge perfectly combines strength and beauty, harmoniously integrating humans, the bridge itself, and the natural environment. It stands as a model masterpiece in the global construction of canyon bridges.