Huangmaohai Bridge
Triple tower cable stayed bridge for Guangdong
The Huangmaohai Bridge design is unique and slender, featuring a three-tower structure never seen in China before.
- Location
- China
- Category
- Road Bridges and Tunnels
- Year
- 2019 - In Progress
- Client
- Guangdong Provincial Highway Company
- Collaborators
- Huangmaohai Link Office / HPDI Guangzhou
- Size
- Link 31 km
For the important centre of commerce and industry, The Guangdong, Dissing+Weitling and Chinese partners are designing a major landmark, the Huangmaohai Bridge. The large-scale project highlight the region and represent the state-of-the-art technological expertise of Danish-Chinese bridge design.
Photo: HPDI, Feng Zhuzi The Huangmaohai Link connects the cities of Jiangmen and Zhuhai, where it joins the west extension of the Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai Bridge.
The link
The Huangmaohai Link features two long span bridges - the western channel bridge being designed with a three-pylon configuration and the eastern part like a more traditional cable stayed bridge.
The link has a total length of more than 31 kilometres, whereas the sea section mileage across the Huangmao Sea is about 15 kilometres.
Photo: HPDI, Feng Zhuzi The Huangmaohai Bridge has a span configuration of 380 metres+720 metres+720 metres+380 metres with 255 metres-high side cable towers and a central pylon with a height of 263 metres.
Elegant, strong and minimalistic design
The western channel bridge is a double-span cable stayed bridge. The span arrangement causes the need for a stabilization of the central tower to avoid deformation of the bridges girders at asymmetrical live load. Traditionally this is done by increasing the dimensions of the central tower, but for the Huangmaohai Link a more elegant solution is proposed:
The dimensions of the central tower is kept similar to the other towers, but with a set of stay cables crossing the cables from the side towers at deck level. This will not only provide the necessary stiffness, but also creates a distinct stay cable arrangement that becomes an important part in the links structure and identity.
Photo: HPDI, Feng Zhuzi Pylons
Reaching over 250 metres in height, the five pylons are the most spectacular elements of the link. Several options regarding pylon types, configurations and spans has been explored, resulting in the I pylon type configuration consisting of several conical surfaces, flaring out at the top and bottom.
Flat pieces are introduced between the pylons curvatures, resulting in a twisting-like motion that moves upwards. The design reflects a simplicity and elegance while exaggerating the adaptation to the transversal and longitudinal forces affecting the pylon at different levels, creating a unique shape that stands as repetitive pylons along the Huangmaohai Link.
The pylons end in a characteristic lighthouse finishing off the sculpture. It is a highly rational design – a minimalistic approach - to establish a light series of sculptures in the open seascape of the river.
Renders by Dissing+Weitling