Glass Bridge in Huangchuan Three Gorges Scenic Area

The bridge seems to "grow" from the natural environment. Through blending the structure into the natural surroundings and deploying innovative construction methods, the design team realized the seamless integration of nature and the artificial.

The bridge is paved with three layers of 4.5-centimerter-thick ultra-clear tempered laminated glass, the visible transmittance of which is 99.15%. The glazing endows the bridge deck with crystal-like luster, high transparency and refractive index. The glass, the guardrails composed of curved stainless steel bars, the bridge tower and red main cables, together form a built landscape that combines the solid and void, the modern and the classical.

Located in the southeast of China, Guangdong is affected by frequent typhoons in summer. Besides, due to the large span and flexible structural system, this suspension bridge requires excellent wind resistance performance. Based on those considerations, the design team carried out wind tunnel testing and finite elements simulation, analyzed the main frequency and modes of vibration, and identified design parameters such as critical flutter velocity and the reasonable degree of enclosedness of guardrails, which provided strong support for optimizing the design and the maintenance of the bridge in the future.

Meanwhile, in order to enhance lateral sustainability and wind resistance performance, the designers adopted an oblique wind-resistant cable system, which is fixed to concrete anchors. Moreover, considering the adverse influences that karstification and special residual silty clay exerted on the site, they tried the best to ensure the safety performance of the bridge during design and construction phases.