Yachihe Bridge, China: engineering the world’s longest cable-stayed steel truss

Yachihe Bridge in China is the longest steel-truss, cable-stayed bridge in the world and the tenth longest overall. Completed in 2016, its 800 m main span carries the new Guiyang–Qianxi dual carriageway over the Yachihe River gorge. It is also the first cable-stayed bridge to be erected using a cable crane, and its concrete-box-girder side spans feature the first use of cable anchorages in the middle of the outer web. Furthermore, geometry alignment during deck closure was achieved by adjusting cable forces rather than by using counterweights. This paper describes the configuration and numerical analysis of the innovative cable anchorage, discusses the challenges and solutions involved in using a cable crane for construction and details the novel closure techniques adopted for the steel-truss deck.