【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】The Menggang River Natural Gas Pipeline Suspension Crossing Project in Chuxiong, Yunnan, from 1970 to 2018
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Witness the decade-long rapid development of chemical processing equipment; praise the prosperity and strength of modern China. Replies will be rewarded – discussions are welcome. -------------------------------------------------- The Menggang River natural gas pipeline suspension bridge project is the most complex, high-risk, challenging, and time-consuming key project in terms of Chupan natural gas pipeline engineering. Once completed, it will become the largest natural gas pipeline suspension bridge of its kind in China. The Menggang River suspension bridge spans the boundary between Mouding County and Dayao County; its main span is 360 meters long, with a total length of 545.6 meters. It is a typical swing-tower flexible suspension bridge structure, constructed by Sichuan Youjian Pipeline Crossing Company.
For the first time, the designers adopted an anti-wind cable system consisting of parallel wind cables, wind cable brackets, and conjugate cables, along with a fully welded articulated bridge tower structure, which improved wind resistance and provided technical support for the installation of the bridge tower. The project involves constructing one 40.73-meter-high bridge tower on each bank of the Menggang River, north and south. To ensure balanced lifting of the towers, a double-column pier foundation 20.4 meters high is installed on the southern bank. Once completed, it will be the suspension bridge for a natural gas pipeline with the largest span in China. The tower of the Menggang River bridge, located on the south bank, is 20 meters lower in elevation than one on the north bank. To maintain its balance, a foundation 20 meters high was built on the south bank; combined with the tower itself, which is over 40 meters tall, the total height at which the tower needs to be lifted is more than 60 meters, making it a challenging task to install.
On May 26, 2018, the critical control task for the Chupan natural gas pipeline project was completed: the hoisting of the southern bank tower of the Menggang River suspension bridge. On June 6, 2018, the critical control task for the Chupan natural gas pipeline project, designed by CNPC Pipeline Design Institute, was completed: the hoisting of the north bank tower for the Menggang River suspension bridge. Thus, the hoisting of the suspension cables for the country’s longest natural gas pipeline, spanning across the towers on both sides, has been fully completed. Since the start of construction in October 2017, thanks to the relentless efforts of all those involved in the project, the critical tasks of lifting the towers on the north and south banks were successfully completed on May 26 and June 6 of this year.
On the morning of July 26, 2018, the Menggang River suspension bridge, the most important control structure for the Chuxiong to Panzhihua gas pipeline project, was successfully completed, marking a significant step forward toward achieving the goal of having natural gas reach Panzhihua by 2018.
The pipeline installation on the bridge deck is carried out by prefabricating them in bulk on the north bank. Based on the actual length of the pipelines, the structure of the bridge deck, and the design requirements, the pipelines are arranged in an appropriate sequence and prefabricated into sections of different lengths. Then, with the help of pulling equipment on the south bank, and by adjusting the angle of the steel cables, the pulling force and speed are controlled dynamically, allowing the prefabricated pipelines to be pulled back as a whole from the delivery trench to their designated positions on the bridge deck.