Second Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

The Second Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the longest prestressed concrete, continuous girder bridge in China. The structure actually consists of two bridges, north and south, and a connection road. This article describes the design criteria, superstructure, substructure and bearing system of the north bridge, which opened in 2001. The bridge has a total length of 2.2 km and four joints, with two end spans 90 m long, and three 165 m long spans in the center. A conservative ratio of 0.545 of side-span-to-main-span was used for the bridge. A continuous, prestressed concrete box girder system was chosen for both the main and approach spans in order to provide better structural integrity with large flexural and torsional stiffness and small deflections. The concrete box girders were constructed using a cantilever casting method. The main spans are supported by hollow piers resting on pile foundations with cushioned caps. Rubber pot bearings were chosen after carefully considering durability and bearing capacity.