Juli Sling Supports the Installation of the World’s Widest Steel Girder on the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway Fuqimen Bridge

On July 21, the first steel girder segment of the Fuqimen Highway-Railway Bridge on the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway was successfully installed. As the world’s longest-span highway-railway cable-stayed bridge with railway and highway traffic arranged on the same deck and towers of different heights, the project has reached a new stage of superstructure construction.

Behind the successful installation of the 467.2-ton steel girder segment, specialized lifting equipment manufactured by Juli Sling provided critical support for the precise positioning of the massive steel structure.

A Major Bridge Project Across the East China Sea

The Fuqimen Highway-Railway Bridge is one of the key control projects of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway, which includes three bridges and one tunnel. Located in the Zhoushan Islands, the bridge connects Zhoushan Island with Fuchi Island.

The bridge has a total length of 1,725.85 meters and a main span of 388 meters. Its construction takes place in a challenging marine environment, creating demanding requirements for structural installation, lifting equipment, and construction safety.

The bridge uses an ultra-wide steel box girder with extended cantilever sections. The girder reaches a width of 56.5 meters, making it the world’s widest cantilever steel box girder structure of its type.

The project also features an innovative design in which the cantilever steel box girder passes through the bridge towers. This configuration provides the exceptionally wide deck required to accommodate high-speed railway and highway traffic on the same level.

Customized Lifting Equipment for a 467.2-Ton Steel Girder

The combination of the girder’s exceptional width and weight, together with the complex offshore construction environment, presented a demanding lifting challenge.

To meet the specific structural requirements of the 56.5-meter-wide steel box girder, Juli Sling developed a customized lifting solution for the project. The lifting system was designed around lightweight construction while maintaining the required safety margin for lifting the 467.2-ton steel girder segment.

Reducing the self-weight of the lifting equipment helped make installation and removal more efficient. The optimized design also simplified operations at the construction site and improved overall lifting efficiency.

For large-scale bridge construction, lifting equipment must not only provide sufficient load-bearing capacity. Its configuration, connection method, handling efficiency, and compatibility with the lifting system are also critical to safe and precise installation.

Soft Connections Improve Offshore Lifting Control

One of the key features of the Juli Sling lifting solution was the soft connection between the steel girder and the lifting equipment.

Offshore lifting operations can be affected by tidal changes, strong currents, wave movement, and vessel motion. These factors can create additional impact and swing during lifting and positioning.

The soft connection was designed to absorb part of the movement and impact generated during floating crane operations. This helped reduce the risk of direct impact on the steel girder while making hook-up and positioning operations more manageable in changing marine conditions.

The design also helped improve control during the final positioning stage. By reducing unnecessary impact and movement between the lifting system and the steel structure, the connection arrangement supported safer and more controlled offshore installation.

This customized solution received positive recognition from the project team and became an important part of the lifting operation.

Coordinated Lifting for Precise Girder Installation

During the actual installation, Juli Sling’s lifting equipment worked together with a 1,200-ton three-directional jack system and the Tiejian Bridge Crane No. 2, a fully rotating floating crane.

The lifting operation also incorporated guide beams and a multi-point synchronous pushing method. Multiple systems worked together to control the position and movement of the steel girder during installation.

From crane hook-up and lifting route planning to final positioning, the lifting system maintained stable performance throughout the operation.

For a steel girder weighing 467.2 tons, achieving accurate positioning in an offshore environment requires close coordination between lifting equipment, cranes, hydraulic systems, and construction procedures. The customized lifting equipment supplied by Juli Sling provided reliable load transfer and connection support throughout the process.

Lifting Beams for Large-Scale Bridge Construction

The successful installation demonstrates the importance of specialized lifting beams in heavy steel structure installation.

A lifting beam can distribute lifting loads across multiple connection points and provide a suitable interface between the crane and the lifted structure. For oversized steel girders, the beam configuration must be matched to the structure’s geometry, weight distribution, lifting points, and required lifting method.

Juli Sling develops lifting equipment for demanding industrial and engineering applications, with solutions that can be customized according to project-specific load requirements and lifting configurations.

For large bridge projects, customized lifting equipment can help improve load distribution, simplify connection operations, and support more precise control during installation.

Supporting the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway Project

The Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway is a major project included in China’s long-term railway network planning. Once completed, the railway will end Zhoushan’s history of having no direct railway connection and strengthen integration between Zhoushan and the wider railway transportation network in Zhejiang Province.

The Fuqimen Highway-Railway Bridge is a critical part of this infrastructure project. With its ultra-wide steel box girder and innovative bridge structure, the project represents another significant engineering achievement in large-scale bridge construction.

Following the successful installation of the first steel girder segment, 68 additional girder segments will be installed during the subsequent construction stages.

Juli Sling will continue to provide lifting equipment and technical support for the project, contributing specialized rigging solutions to the construction of this landmark bridge.

Through customized lifting systems, reliable connection equipment, and engineering-focused design, Juli Sling supports the safe and efficient installation of large steel structures in complex construction environments.