Introduction to High

Speed Railway Bridges in China

China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance & Design Institute Co., Ltd. (BRDI)
No.8 Boxue Road, Wuhan Economic&Technological Development Zone, P.R. China
CONTENTS

Part 1 Railway Development in China

Part 2 Short-span Bridge For HSR

Part 3 Long-span Bridge For HSR

Part 4 Conclusion
01
Railway Development in China
PART ONE
Railway Network

China railway network has a total length

of 139,000 kilometers （by 2019）among
which 35,000 kilometers are high speed
railways. These railways shape a dense
net covering almost every corner of
China, even remote mountainous areas,
and Hainan Island on the sea. By 2030 as
the planning, the railway network in
China will reach 150,000 kilometers .
 Railway Station

It was estimated that there were about 5,500 train stations in operation, including over
2,000 for passenger transport. According to the various geographical position and function,
Chinese train stations can be divided into six classes based on the passenger and freight
transport capacity, number of luggage transport, location of the station, etc. From the aspect of
passenger transport, the principal class station can transport about 60,000 passengers every
day, first class 15,000, second class 5,000, and 2,000 for third class station.
High Speed Railway(HSR) Network

China has world’s largest high speed railway (HSR) network as long as 35,000 km
（in operation) and under construction and capable of accommodating high speed
trains running at 250 - 350 km/h (186 - 217 mph).
 High Speed Railway(HSR) Network
The present high speed railway network mainly consists of four north-south and four east-west
trunk railways. According to the long-term plan, the network will be extended to eight north-south
and eight east-west high speed lines by 2030.

Beijing-Shanghai 1,318 km

Beijing-Hong Kong 2,440 km

Four North - South
High Speed Rail Lines Beijing-Harbin 1,300 km

Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen 1,464 km

Xuzhou-Lanzhou 1,400 km

Shanghai-Kunming 2,266 km
Four East - West High
Speed Rail Lines Qingdao-Taiyuan 770 km

Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu 1,985 km
High Speed Railway(HSR) Network
Cost of High Speed Railway(HSR)
02 Short-span Bridge For HSR
PART TWO
Choice of Bridge Structure

In China, most HSR Lines have a high ratio of

bridges and viaducts, at an average level of 50%,
and for several lines, the ratio reaches 80%.
 Choice of Bridge Structure

HSR Lines Total Length Length of the Ratio

Bridges& Viaducts
Beijing-Shanghai 1,318 km 1061 80.5 %

Beijing-Hong Kong 2,440 km 1540 63.1 %

Beijing-Harbin 1,300 km 963 74.1 %

Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen 1,464 km 549 37.5 %

Xuzhou-Lanzhou 1,400 km 847 60.5 %

Shanghai-Kunming 2,266 km 1210 53.4 %

Qingdao-Taiyuan 770 km 373 48.4 %

Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu 1,985 km 951 47.9 %

 Principal of Design

To ensure the running safety and riding comfort of high-speed trains on the bridge, high-speed
railway Bridges should have certain vertical, transverse and torsional stiffness, as well as small
long-term deformation.
Therefore, the design of high-speed railway Bridges should be changed from structural strength
control to stiffness control. For the double-line prestressed concrete box girder used in China's
high-speed railway, the vertical stiffness, frequency and deformation of the girder are the main
technical indicators for the overall structure design.
Principal of Design
Why we choose simple-supported concrete box-girder
as main structure form for HSR ?

➢ For riding safety and comfort

Better structural performance on vertical stiffness, frequency
and deformation
➢ Suit for large-scale pre-casting and girder erection
There is a whole set of mature techniques and equipment for
pre-casting and girder erection
➢ Less maintenance work
Compare with the steel structure, the maintenance frequency
is lower, means less impact on operation.
➢ Less land occupation
Compare with the subgrade structure, viaduct structure can save
2.9 hectare land occupation per kilometer alignment length
 Principal of Design

Main technical parameter for HSR

Parameter Unit Railway（200km/h) HSR (250-350km/h)

Rotation angle at the ‰ rad 3 Ballast 2.0

girder end (max)
Ballast-less 1.0
Super-elevation Time- rad/s
variable Rate of rail / 25
(max)
longitudinal slope (max) ‰ 6 20
radius of vertical curves m
15000 25000
(min)
radius of plane curves m
3500 7000
(min)
 Structural Composition

Retaining wall

Maintenance aisle CRTS Ballast-less Slab

Concrete Cushion
Box-girder
Manhole

Bearings
Pier
 Choice of Track Type

Operation Speed Transport Type Track Type

300- 350 km/h Passenger transport line Box-girder with ballast-less

track
200- 250 km/h Passenger & Freight transport line Box-girder with ballast or
ballast-less track
250 km/h Passenger transport line (Intercity) Box-girder with ballast track
 Choice of Span
In world wide, standardized span is commonly used for HSR viaducts, for instance:

Courtiers Commonly used bridge structure

France Continuous girder with 40m span

Germany Simple supported girders with 44m and 58m span

Spain and Italy Simple supported girders with 24m span

Japan Continuous rigid frame bridge with short span

Korea With standardized span of 25m and 40m

Through a series of comprehensive selection on commonly used span and bridge beam
types, State Bureau of Technical Supervision(SBTS, China) suggested mainly used structure
for HSR should be prestressed concrete simply supported box girder with 32m span, and
box girder with 24 m span as the adjustive structure.
 Pre-casting Procedure

1. Preparing the formwork 2. Assembling the reinforcement 3. Hoisting the reinforcement

4. Preparing the internal 5. Pouring the concrete 6. Post tensioning

formwork
7. Concrete curing 8. Installing the deck system
 Girder erection Procedure

Model types of Girder transport vehicle : DCY900 (tons), YL900, TLC900

Model types of Girder erection machine : JQ900A (B), DF900, TLJ900, SPJ900, HZQ900, HD900
03 Long Span Bridge For HSR
PART THREE
Background

Demand for Long-span bridge in high speed railway

➢ To across the big river, or sea area; (Navigation requirements)

➢ When crossover arterial road traffic;

➢ There is a demand for multi-purpose bridge (Municipal requirements )

➢ To integrate different railway or metro lines on one structure

Background Different types of long-span HSR bridges

Continuous girder / Suspension bridge

Continuous rigid frame bridge

Cable stay bridge Arch bridge

 Case Study
Hutong Yangtze River Bridge

➢ Function：
Rail-cum-road Bridge with 4 railway lanes
and 6 Highway lanes
➢ Structure Type：
Cable stay bridge with steel truss girder
➢ Main Span：1092m
➢ Progress：Under Construction
 Case Study
Wufengshan Bridge

➢ Function：
Rail-cum-road Bridge with 4 railway lanes
and 8 Highway lanes
➢ Structure Type：
Suspension bridge with steel truss girder
➢ Main Span：1092m
➢ Progress：Under Construction
 Case Study

Jinsha River Bridge in Chengdu-Guiyang Railway

➢ Function：
Rail-cum-road Bridge with 4 railway lanes
and 6 Highway lanes
➢ Structure Type：
Arch Bridge
➢ Main Span：336m
➢ Features：
Railway on the upper deck and highway on
the lower deck with a level difference of 30m
Technical Features - Material
High performance steel used for bridge:

➢ Q420 and Q500

➢ The use of High performance steel can reduce the dead weight of the structure,
reduce the steel usage;
➢ Different grades of steel can be used on one bridge to achieve an economical
design.
 Technical Features - Structure
Steel truss with three truss planes and three cable planes
The load of railway bridge is large and the
internal force of structure is also huge . For
the multi-purpose bridge, there is a large
deformation of the cross section due to the
heavy load and wide deck system.
The girder structure with three truss
planes and three cable planes can make
the stress distribution more rational,
therefore the deformation can be reduced
and the track regularity can be increased.

It has been successfully applied in Tongling Bridge, Hutong Bridge and

Dashengguan Bridge etc.
Technical Features - Structure
Inclined main trusses

➢ The upper deck width for highway traffic is larger than the lower one for railway,
therefore girder with inclined truss planes is reasonable.
➢ This design can save the steel usage.

It has been successfully applied in Zhengzhou Yellow River Bridge and

Huanggang Yangtze River Bridge etc.
Technical Features - Structure
Composite structure

➢ Deck-truss composite girder.

The deck system will work together with the steel truss to carry the load.
➢ Concrete-steel composite girder
The deck system is composed by orthotropic plate and concrete slab.
Technical Features - Construction
Rotation Construction Method

➢ Minimum impact on traffic operation

➢ Cost Effective
➢ The weight of the rotating girder section can be 15000tons
04 Conclusion
PART FOUR
2020
THANK YOU
China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance & Design Institute Co., Ltd. (BRDI)
No.8 Boxue Road, Wuhan Economic&Technological Development Zone, P.R. China