Quanzhou Bay bridge to receive 2024 engineering honor

The Quanzhou Bay cross-sea bridge, part of the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway, is set to receive the Theodore Cooper Award at the 2024 International Bridge Conference in June.

The bridge, with a length of 20.3 kilometers, is the world's first high-speed rail cross-sea bridge. Using innovative technology and corrosion-resistant steel for marine atmospheric exposure, it can adapt to complex environments such as strong winds, severe corrosion and earthquakes. Its lightweight structural design is green — having undergone low-carbon construction — and ensures smooth, comfortable and high-density train operations, according to the company.

It increases the world's maximum cross-sea bridge speed from 200 km to 350 km per hour, a breakthrough in bridge engineering.

The bridge does not require wind barriers, allowing high-speed trains to operate without speed restrictions under wind speeds of up to level 8 and keeping traffic open under level 11 gales. In 2023, it withstood level 15 winds from Super Typhoon Doksuri and passed dynamic testing for high-speed travel at 385 km/h over the sea, eliminating the need for restricted speed zones on long-span sea-crossing bridges.

Designed by the China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group, the bridge began construction in 2017 and opened for traffic in September 2023. It has enabled the cities of Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen in Fujian province to form a one-hour transportation circle.