Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong: main span erection

To erect a main span of a bridge across the entrance of one of the busiest container ports in the world without causing disruption is a complex operation. Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong, was also the second longest cable-stayed span in the world with a unique twin box deck design that was being erected through a typhoon season. Extensive preparation works were carried out from wind tunnel tests in the UK, marine simulations, new erection procedures, typhoon studies and continuous erection analysis. The main span consisted of 53 steel segments weighing between 500 and 600 t and lifted from a purpose-built self-propelled barge. The closure of the main span posed special problems with the large deflection and expansion from a 500 m cantilever, and that the closure segment was in two pieces erected at the same time. The 224 parallel wire strand stay cables were some of the longest and heaviest cables ever erected.